MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED BY C J AND J C HARVEY,
BUCKLAND GARDEN NURSERIES (V26)
I understand that the Agriculture Committee,
of which you are Chairman, is launching an enquiry into the consequences
the above tax will have on the glasshouse industry. As you know,
we have a four acre tomato nursery employing eight full time staff.
We, like all other tomato growers have been very "environmentally
friendly" for a good many years. This industry is very forward-looking
and has been working towards zero tolerance in pesticide use and
economical use of fuel for some considerable time. We do not need
a tax to make us more aware of our environment, nor do we need
another tax to put us out of business.
We have, during the last year, installed a CHP
(Combined Heat and Power) Unit on the nursery (the first in the
Vale of Evesham) to provide all our heating requirements and put
two mw of electricity back into the national grid. A highly sophisticated
system will remove all pollutants from the exhaust gases. The
cost of the installation is well in excess of £1.8 million
and you are very welcome to come and see it whenever you are in
the area. The cost of the Climate Change Levy would cost us in
the region of £22,000 per annum and with only eight employees
we would be lucky to recoup £500 in NI contributions. You
can see what a crippling tax this would be for us. With the "good"
CHP unit installed we may be exempt from this tax, but not all
growers are in this fortunate situation and we are talking about
the effect it will have on the whole industry at the end of the
day. With the worst prices we have known for years and coping
with increased costs, you can see that we are all struggling to
keep our businesses viable. It is only through attention to the
smallest detail, increased production and savings on fuel that
we keep going.
The standard of horticulture in this country
is extremely high and needs all the encouragement and support
it can get from this Government not a kick in the teeth which
will only put us out of business and increase imports. We are
all providing the best quality produce we can and getting no help
whatsoever to do it. We do not ask for, or expect to get, the
grants that our European competitors get from EU funds. I understand
that these same competitors—Spain, Portugal, France and
Ireland have all rejected the tax being levied on the glasshouse
industry and the Dutch have exemptions in place. A level playing
field—I think not!
We appreciate your help in this matter and look
forward to a sensible and satisfactory outcome.
We hope that you will be able to come and see
the CHP Unit, we are sure you would be interested to see what
we, as growers, are doing to protect our environment.
24 January 2000
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