Farming News – Febuary 2024

The recent request from the council asking farmers to clear the roads of drifts in times of heavy snowfall reminds me of the last time that the village was isolated by drifts, in excess of seven feet! It was in March 1979, and I cleared the road to Scruton Lane End. Farmers don’t need asking, we just get on and do it. On this occasion the road was filled with drifts to the top of the hedges and the biggest problem was finding somewhere to drop the many tons of snow which I cleared off the road. I still remember digging out the council snow plough which got stuck!

I was recently going to fill in the potholes which are damaging cars in Ham Hall Lane. My thinking was that, if the council can’t be bothered, then I’ll do it myself, but people keep saying that I will be sued by the council if I undertake the work myself. Now can someone explain to me, how do we farmers stand, if a task needs doing and we have the means and machinery to help put things right, are we going to be prosecuted for doing it?