Family fight to stop Vale's Model Farm becoming business park

Campaigners are fighting to save a family farm east of Cardiff Airport from becoming a 45-acre business park.

The Jenkins family have been told to go by the end of July 2022 as the landowners want to build there.

Four generations of the family have worked Model Farm, on Port Road, Vale of Glamorgan, since 1935.

Landowners Legal and General received planning permission last month to build on the farm.

A campaign group set up to save Model Farm, north of Porthkerry Country Park, has thousands of supporters, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Money has been raised for legal fees to appeal against the planning decision, and a protest at the Senedd is planned.

Politicians have criticised Vale of Glamorgan council for granting planning permission.

In the same month it declared a "nature emergency" and pledged to protect the environment.

Legal and General said the park would create more than 3,000 jobs and bring in £94m in wages each year.

The council said it would help the economy.

Kelly Ball lives and works at Model Farm with husband Rhys Jenkins and their two daughters, aged one and three, and Rhys's father Gethin.

She said the family was in shock and did not know where they would go.

"We've been given 12 months, until July 31 next year," Ms Ball said.

They had had no contact with Legal and General, she said.

"It's shocking how they're treating us," she added.

The family, who rear beef, and grow cereal crops and wildflowers, did not think the plans would go ahead because of Covid and the council's climate emergency.

"Rhys will try to carry on the farm," Ms Ball said.

"Maybe something might come up between now and in 12 months' time. But at the minute it's all up in the air. As a family we're just devastated."

As part of the plans, Legal and General will give about 49 hectares of land towards extending Porthkerry Country Park.

But despite the extension, campaigners claimed the business park would be bad for the environment, harming biodiversity and increasing congestion.

Vale Communities Unite, set up to save Model Farm, has launched a fundraiser for legal fees and has also planned a protest outside the Senedd.

Campaigner Gail Elizabeth said: "There's huge opposition from locals, and over 1,000 residents opposed it.

"The farmers have supported us over a number of years in various ways. They're huge in the community and have been for years."

Maxine Levett, another campaigner, said there were "more appropriate" sites that could have been used.

"We have got huge areas of brownfield sites in the area that could have been used," she said.

"There's a huge range of biodiversity on that site. The council is rewilding in other places like Porthkerry Country Park, so why concrete over just above the park? It just goes against all their aims."

She said a "beautiful view" would be "obliterated".

"The community were in uproar after the decision was made," she said.

"We were upset by how our comments had been disregarded."

Ms Levett and Ms Elizabeth both said the business park could potentially cause congestion problems.

The Senedd and Vale of Glamorgan Council both declared a "nature emergency" in the summer.

In 2019, they both declared a climate emergency.

Welsh Conservative climate change spokeswoman, Janet Finch Saunders MS, said: "The Labour council's decision is disastrous for the environment, will mean more congestion and greater pollution, and goes against everything their colleagues say about climate change in Cardiff Bay."

Plaid Cymru group leader on the council, Ian Johnson, said: "We need an urgent statement from the Welsh government about how the climate emergency and nature emergency affect planning regulations and guidance, and whether or not they support these plans for development at Model Farm."

Vale council's planning committee gave planning permission on 14 July. Nine independent and Labour councillors voted in favour, while eight Plaid and Tory councillors voted against.

Labour argued it would create jobs. Legal and General said a "high-profile employer" would run the business park.

The council said "full consideration" had been been given to "relevant factors", including environmental impact.

It highlighted the importance of nearby Cardiff Airport as "an international gateway" that links Wales with the world and "helps drive the country's economy".

It also said the site had been designated as a location for large-scale employment in 2011's local development plan (LDP).

"It is a legal requirement that all planning decisions are taken in accordance with the LDP unless material considerations indicate otherwise," a spokesman said.

Legal and General said the plans would create local jobs, pay millions of pounds in wages, and give land to Porthkerry Country Park.

Enhancement of natural habitats and wildlife were a "key priority", the firm said.

"We sympathise with the tenant, Mr Jenkins, and will continue to communicate with him as part of the next steps in the process of enabling the delivery of this site and its wider community benefits," a spokesman said.

The campaigners have vowed to keep fighting.

"Enough is enough," Ms Levett said.

"They have to put a stop to it. They have to put their foot down."