MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED BY MR. DUNCAN PRIESTNER,
J. PRIESTNER PARTNERSHIP (V12)
I am writing to tell you about the dramatic
impact that the IPPC levy and the Climate Change Levy will have
on our poultry business.
We are a family business of approximately 100,000
birds. We employ 11 staff as well as the partners. Last year on
a turnover of £820,000 we just made enough for the partners
to take a salary of a few thousand pounds. I personally have no
company car and we survive by my wife working for the health service.
The proposed charge for an application of over
£12,000, is absolutely ludicrous. It is more than I take
home in a year, and far higher than any other Government body
charges. I personally think that all poultry units like the rest
of agriculture should be exempt. We have all spent many years
trying to use the latest environmental equipment, whether that
be stilt sheds, belt drying manure or scrapers to reduce emissions,
smells and flies. We have also had enormous expenses in complying
with welfare regulations brought in by the EU, more which will
come into effect in January 2003.
If we are forced to comply with a new set of
regulations, it is unlikely that we will have the capital to make
any alterations and will be forced to shut down any part of the
business that does not comply.
Regarding the Climate Change Levy, again we
have spent the last 15 years trying to reduce our electric demand
by using all of the energy saving equipment available, whether
that be re-insulating sheds, energy saving bulbs, power correction
capacitors, sequential feeders, bell mouth fans etc. We are now
getting thanked by having a levy put on us to increase the cost
of electric, it will not make us use less electric but will only
make our business less efficient by putting up our costs.
24 December 1999
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