Policy ‘pick-and-mix’ at National Farmers Union Scotland

SIR, – The SF was good enough to print my previous letter reflecting the legitimate concerns of local people and businesses in the northern coastal corridor of East Lothian to what would be the largest anaerobic digestion plant of its kind in the country, which East Lothian Council planning committee subsequently comprehensively rejected by 10-6 on a number of grounds.
These ranged from road safety, to visual impact, the loss of valuable agricultural land for industrial purposes and no overriding need for a de facto change of use.
Many other legitimate planning problems were not addressed at the meeting due to limitations on time, but the applicant, local waste management contractor and farmer, J Haig Hamilton and Sons, has subsequently appealed to Scottish ministers.
J Haig Hamilton and Sons is a local proxy for the proposed end operator, United Utilities plc, the most polluting public utility in the country with more than 250 prosecutions by the Environment Agency over eight years
But, I digress – in its appeal to DPEA on behalf of the applicant, NFUS said: “Throughout the entire planning process, the applicant has been respectful and mindful of those in both the local community and further afield, holding consultation meetings and answering queries.”
This is factually incorrect. The applicant was hostile to any local opposition, issuing legal warnings, refusing access to land for local residents and other farmers and locking access gates owned and managed by others.
Undaunted, ill-informed and lacking judgment, NFUS continued: “Unfortunately, this has not been at all recognised by those objecting to the application and incorrect information continues to appear in the public domain. 
“Those objecting to this project seem to be in support of renewable energy, as long as it is not in their locality” – in effect accusing those with valid concerns of being liars and NIMBYs.
These disparaging remarks by NFUS have upset many consumers and taxpayers in the county, including a number of local farmers who believe their interests have not been best served over this entire affair.
Meanwhile, it is not so long ago that the self-same NFUS CEO, Scott Walker, was warning us all of the dire dangers of anaerobic digestion to the agricultural sector, stating: “Scotland may be sleepwalking towards a fundamental change in the availability of animal protein, with negative consequences for the livestock and dairy sectors of Scottish agriculture.
“With some anaerobic digestion plants already operational and many others at different stages, many farmers are concerned that we could be naively generating a feed issue that could result in livestock numbers being reduced,” he added, concluding: “Government and industry needs to reassure themselves that the proliferation of incineration and anaerobic digestion plants are not simply a means of ticking a box on carbon emission reduction targets but exporting the problem to somewhere else.”
Farmers’ support for anaerobic digestion is far from universal; the Tenant Farmers Association has said: “It is a major concern that a significant number of existing and proposed AD plants have identified maize and/or grass silage as appropriate feedstocks. 
“In areas with significant AD capacity we have seen land rents reach unsustainable levels as competition for land to grow maize for AD plants has intensified. 
“Farmers looking for land to grow feed for livestock are left having either to look further afield at significantly higher cost, or go without access to sufficient ground for their production needs causing them to have to buy in feed again at very high prices.”
Even then, NFUS, which claims to be ‘The voice of farming’ and representative of the needs of tenant farmers states: “The NFU Tenants Service provides professional advice, information and representation to support our tenant members in the challenges they face” – a clear policy conflict over anaerobic digestion.
Furthermore, in an industry where policy and principle appear to be formulated and applied on a ‘pick-and-mix’ basis, the AD industry trade body, the National Non Food Crops Centre, happily passes itself off to DPEA as “an independent authority” whilst, at the same time promoting itself as “a leading international consultancy with expertise on the conversion of biomass to bioenergy, biofuels and bio-based products”.
And I thought ‘pick-and-mix’ had ended with the demise of Woolworths.
On a more upbeat note, congratulations to Soil Association Scotland for winning the recent RSPB Nature of Scotland Awards, as reported in The Scottish Farmer of December 3, for its Future Farming Programme, which “provides information sessions, DIY farm trials and resources for farmers, crofters and growers across Scotland, supporting them to explore techniques that are good for both the environment and their businesses.”
Worth noting however, that one of the main sponsors of RSPB is none other than United Utilities plc; but please don’t let that take the shine of the SAS award.