Elveden Farms Limited
CALL FOR EVIDENCEWATER MANAGEMENT
ELVEDEN FARMS
LIMITED
Elveden Farms is a privately owned rural based
business. The present owners have held the property for the past
111 years.
Key statistics of the business are that it:
owns over 9,500 ha rural land in
the county of Suffolk;
farms 4,000 ha on its own account,
predominantly potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips;
manages over 1,500 ha. of dry and
wetland heath under ESA and other agreements, much of it designated
SSSI, ESA or County Wildlife Site;
manages 2,000 ha of woodland and
forest;
manages over 230 domestic dwelling
houses, mostly serviced by private water supply;
directly employs over 100 people;
offers recreational and sporting
facilities of rural interest; and
holds water abstraction licences
totalling in excess of 2,500 megalitres per annum, mostly for
spray irrigation but also for domestic and agricultural use.
Elveden Farms has a strong and vested interest
in all aspects of rural landscape management; from intensive commercial
food production, to enhancing environmental diversity on rare
habitat areas; from providing housing and employment to a stable
rural population, to providing recreational and sporting opportunities
to residents and visitors.
Access to water is vital for the sustainable
future of the land holding. The farming element remains the financial
powerhouse and produces over 80,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables
per annum. These are all programmed supplies for major UK food
supply chains, including all the major multiple retailers and
a number of high profile brand processors. The farming system
produces high yields of safe, reliable food for Britain's population.
It is a reliable, low-cost producer, close to its markets.
The farming activities help to give the commercial
strength and the resource base to look after the large areas of
environmentally important landscape and to support an ever growing
range of non-agricultural rural interests.
COMMENT ON
QUESTIONS RAISED
Defining the problem
The collective understanding and knowledge of
how Britain's aquifer and river systems function is inadequate.
Although research is being undertaken, I urge the Select Committee
to look closely at ways of expanding our knowledge more quickly.
A major factor underlying concern over water
supply is that the area of greatest demand (the South and East
of England), is also the area of greatest growth in demand, where
rainfall is least, where food production is most important and
where environmental concerns are least well defined.
I do not believe the work done so far in assessing
the magnitude of problems ahead has been in the least bit imaginative.
Reports I have seen do little more than suggest we flush the loo
less frequently, take fewer baths, don't wash the car, leave the
garden to wither and take water away from food production.
This is not the way forward for an advanced
and sophisticated industrial society, it looks backwards not forwards,
in comes up with reactions, not solutions.
There is an inference that agriculture can be
sacrificed to allow the expansion on the public water supply.
This is neither necessary nor desirable and I urge the Committee
to look at ways of ensuring the retention of food production as
important and legitimate.
Supply and Demand
There is the potential to increase the effective
usable water supply by a number of methods, including:
make better use of existing resources
by improved infrastructure and more efficient use;
reach a better understanding of the
needs of the environment, it is possible we could reduce the use
of the "precautionary principle" and release more water
for legitimate commercial use;
move water from areas of low demand
to those of high demand; and
develop novel sources of water, for
example desalination of salt water and stripping water from the
atmosphere.
Demand for water at the point of use is most
likely to rise. Economic instruments are a favoured method for
influencing the behaviour of consumers and others. The planning
system could be put to better use, ensuring that new developments,
be they industrial, commercial or domestic, take proper account
of an adequate supply of water, its efficient use and effective
disposal. This could include developing and applying new technologies.
Government could offer financial incentives or tax breaks to stimulate
take up of new ideas.
There is a huge opportunity for science and
technology to help reach new solutions. This could include areas
such as:
lower cost piping and water transfer
technology;
systems for separating water of different
qualities at point of use;
developing novel water sources; and
developing more efficient water use
models for crop production.
Infrastructure
There is plenty of evidence that the national
public water supply infrastructure is in need of improvement.
Some water companies have been less responsive than others in
dealing with leakage. There is little incentive for them to invest
in storage systems to buffer periods of high demand. At this stage
the pressure is there for farmers and others to invest in winter
storage, leaving all summer water available for public water supply.
Context
I believe the regulatory framework is more than
adequate, what we are lacking is sound science on which to base
the application of existing regulatory powers. The regulatory
framework exists to protect the environment and to ensure efficient
use, what does not exist is the science to fully understand the
needs of the environment. We can use water efficiently with known
technology, we need to push technology forward to give us better
tools to work with and move us to a new level.
Government policy appears to be paying much
lip service to water, but this has yet to be seen clearly in areas
of planning. Housing developments appear to be popping up in areas
of restricted water supply with no real evidence of how they are
to be serviced in to the future.
Agricultural need is accepted as a legitimate
use of the water resource, but government has made it very clear
that it does not care whether or not there is any food production
in the UK. I believe this to be short-sighted for a number of
reasons, not least of which is the broad environmental consequence
of allowing food production to migrate further and further away
from the point of consumption. If agriculture and food production
are denied access to the national water supply, there will be
a significant impact on the viability of rural England.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment
on this subject. I urge the Committee to look carefully at the
role of science and technology to enable us to take proper regard
of the environment whilst at the same time developing techniques
and systems which allow all legitimate water users, especially
agriculture and food production, continued access to this most
vital natural resource.
October 2005
|