Elan Valley Trust were concerned to hear about a complaint made in relation to the letting of Tymawr sheepwalk following the sad death of the tenant.
We take such complaints very seriously and halted the letting to undertake a thorough review, we also received external legal opinions with regard to the letting process. The outcome of the two processes confirm the Trust procedures are legally correct and have been applied to a high standard.
We take a strong stand against discrimination and we are proud to have a workforce with a diverse age range and women employed at all levels of the organisation.
On the rare occasion when a sheepwalk tenancy comes to an end our approach is to invite people to apply through an open tender process. All interested parties will be asked to provide details of their experience and approach to farming, their knowledge of the area, a business plan, budgets and references.
Our letting process seeks to provide a fair and transparent approach which complies with our legal obligations as a landlord and a charity. We are however keen to learn and improve and will review our approach in consultation with our tenants and stakeholders. We recognise the vital role our tenants and their families play in managing the important water catchment and habitats that make up Cwm Elan and we are committed to ensuring that our farming community has a strong future here. We regret that in this instance the process we followed caused distress to the family of a tenant.
Unfortunately, the timescales are now such that we are unable to complete the lettings process in advance of 15th May 2024 which would have allowed a tenant to have management control of the land for the purposes of Basic Payment Scheme 2024. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Sustainable Farming Scheme and the implications that the scheme may have on farm finances the current proposal is to re-let the holding in early 2025 to allow prospective applicants to review all relevant factors in their proposals.
