National Grid - to destroy organic "green" farm

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 There have been tears at Homelands Farm. There has also been anger, frustration, confusion, stress… and lots more stress.

Jon and Judy Homer have stood by helpless as plans by National Grid plc look set to destroy the last 22 years of their hard work.

The couple breathed sighs of relief when the first draft of National Grid’s route for 87 miles of pylons missed their organic farm at Croft, near Burgh le Marsh, in  Lincolnshire.

But a route change for the new overhead line from Grimsby to Walpole in Norfolk changed all that. Now the route directly crosses their home and 68-acre farm and Jon says the pylons, construction tracks and a permanent maintenance road will “trash” the farm, making it no longer viable.

To add insult to injury they only expect to be offered a small easement payment by National Grid.

Jon said: “Not only will the farm no longer be viable, we will not be able to sell. We will lose our livelihood and 22 years of work will be destroyed.”

The couple took the project on when it was a neglected dairy farm and ran a livery yard, supplementing their income with a variety of other jobs, while they developed their dream of creating a completely organic and environmentally-friendly business. Their species-rich meadows provide organic hay for local horse owners and other organic farming companies up and down the length of the country.

Jon said: “It’s a beautiful setting. Originally it had a cluster of trees and we wanted to expand that. We planted trees and hedgerows and now have an 11-acre woodland with hedgerows weaving between the different habitats connecting them all together. We believe it was the first woodland in England to have an organic classification. 

“We had no agricultural background and had to learn and start from scratch to eventually have the whole farm classed as organic.”

They produce lumpwood charcoal for local outlets using wood harvested sustainably within five miles of the farm. In the coming years they intend to use the thinnings from the woodland to produce biochar, which, among other things, can be used to help other farmers improve their soil quality.

The farm also offers off-grid camping for environmentally-conscious visitors and keeps a herd of rare Border Leicester sheep.

“Last year we were invited to a talk from Greater Lincolnshire Nature Partnership at South Ormsby Estate and we were very pleased to sign up with them to take part in the Lincolnshire Nature Recovery Programme and to start working towards becoming a Lincolnshire Wildlife Site. 

“We have been working to document the various species of plants and animals across the farm and were even planning to show the public what we’ve been doing to help nature and support wildlife, and don’t want to see all this go to waste,” said Jon.

Jon explained that when the Grimsby to Walpole project was first announced they were relieved to see that the farm was not on the pylons route.

But that all changed a few weeks ago when new proposals from National Grid landed on their doormat showing a route change cutting straight through the farm.

“It was a complete bombshell. It’s been devastating,” said Jon.

He said they have been told the reason for the route change is to avoid a compensation claim against National Grid from the owners of a local solar farm. Shade from the overhead cables could reduce the generating power of some of the planned 42,000 solar panels spread across 55 acres.

Jon said: “The effect of shade from cables pales into insignificance compared to the environmental damage which will be caused here.

“They want to take our best hay meadow for mitigation planting to offset the environmental damage of the project and erect pylons near our home and on the farm that will completely destroy our organic status. Trees and hedgerows that we planted will be ripped out, ponds will be filled in and a 60-metre wide strip will be felled through our woodland. It will impact around 42 acres out of our 68-acre farm, leaving just a 21-acre smallholding. Our livestock will have to go as there won’t be enough grazing for them. The road outside our home will be widened, and an access track will cut across our garden and vegetable plot. They have said they will reinstate the land after building and removing a construction access road, but every shovelful of soil and every blade of grass would have to be organic. 

“Even so, two permanent maintenance roads will be left and all traffic coming onto the farm would have to be washed down every time. It’s impossible and shows their lack of understanding. It will finish the farm. It would take 30 to 40 years to get back to where we are now.”

He said there had been no direct contact from National Grid, although representatives from consultants Dalcour Maclaren had visited to undertake wildlife surveys for environmental and habitat impact reports.

As well as diverse flora and fauna the farm is home to owls, bats, hares, badgers, foxes, muntjac and roe deer, swifts, skylarks, lapwings, curlews and red kite.

But Jon said the visiting representatives were only interested in surveying some pre-chosen specific areas and ignored his advice directing them to where the red kite and bats were.

“This has been a desktop planning exercise with mapping showing just fields and with no recognition of the environmental value of what is actually on the ground.”

He said one ridiculous proposal was for two huge soakaways to take runoff from the pylons’ concrete bases to prevent the water table rising in the surrounding land, but draining to a ditch that would be higher than the soakaways. “Water doesn’t run uphill,” he said.