Queen's estate 'putting profit before country'

[Tony Gosling]

Queen's estate 'putting profit before country'

Villagers up in arms over Duchy plan to build 
thousands of new homes on green-belt land
Charlie Cooper

Sunday 25 November 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/queens-estate-putting-profit-before-country-8348955.html

Villagers in a small, rural community have 
accused the Queen's private estate of putting 
their village and the livelihoods of local 
farmers under threat with a controversial plan to 
build thousands of houses on green-belt land.

Residents in Barthomley, Cheshire, say that a 
Duchy of Lancaster plan to build up to 4,000 new 
houses on its Crewe Estate would "destroy the 
village" and risked putting profit before preserving the countryside.

The 600-acre development proposal would see the 
construction of a new "employment destination" 
centred on a "network" of three new villages. The 
proposal includes an option to "release" several 
hundred acres of green -belt land to the east of Crewe.

The Duchy's Crewe Estate includes 15 farms held 
by tenant farmers, often kept within the same 
family for generations. Eight farms could be 
"erased" by the development, depriving farmers of 
their livelihoods, local activists say.

John Porter, 35, a tenant on the estate whose 
family have farmed the same land for three 
generations, said the Duchy was "selling out to the highest bidder".

"We've been long-term tenants. We and two other 
tenants have been put on notice or had the length 
of our tenancies shortened," he said. "A lot of 
relationships between the Duchy and their tenants have broken down.

"The Duchy used to behave like a parent and now 
they act more like a pimp. We're always told that 
the Queen is supposed to care about her tenants."

The Duchy said that the proposals were in their 
"very early days" and pledged to privately 
discuss "the implications" of the developments 
with its tenants "well before anything is finalised".

The Duchy of Lancaster, which saw its value 
increase to £400m this year, is the custodian of 
18,200 hectares of land held in trust on behalf 
of the Queen. It provides the Queen with her 
private income and funds the official activities 
of other members of the Royal family. The Queen's 
own official duties are paid for by £32.3m of taxpayers' money.

Local residents have formed an action group to 
fight the proposals, which they say would create 
an urban sprawl from Crewe in the west to Alsager 
in the east, tarmacking over prime rural land 
that is used for agriculture and as breathing 
space for thousands of people from nearby Stoke-on-Trent.

"The development would destroy the village," said 
Viv Belcher, 55, chair of the Barthomley Action Group.

"On one side we will have the industrial site and 
on the other side thousands of houses.

"We will have much more traffic in the country 
lanes and gridlock in the centre of the village."

Barthomley, the site of an 11th century church 
and home to the award-winning White Lion Inn, is a popular visitor destination.

"People come from outside to visit the pub, cycle 
and horse ride in the country lanes," Ms Belcher 
said. "There is a bowling club and footpaths 
across the field – all of that would disappear."

She added: "The Duchy seems far more interested 
in profit these days than it does in preserving 
the countryside. We expect them to sell the land 
to developers – they will be able to sell green-belt land at a premium."
--
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