Geoffrey Cox meets Dartmoor Commoners

Geoffrey Cox, MP for West Devon and Torridge, met the Dartmoor Commoners Committee last week to discuss the issues affecting farming on the Moor. The MP attended the meeting at the farm of committee member, Leyland Branfield.

He was given a detailed presentation of the chief concerns of farming families on Dartmoor including the low stocking levels imposed by Natural England, the lower farm payments, and delays and uncertainty in the administration of the payments system. The MP was told that the number of farmers on Dartmoor was reducing at such a rate that few might remain in ten years’ time unless some of these factors were reversed.

Geoffrey Cox said: “the tradition and value to the Moor and to local communities of Moorland farming is so important that it is essential the Commoners’ message is heard in Westminster and Whitehall. I shall ensure that ministers do hear it along with Natural England, whose executives I shall be meeting in the near future.”

Photo: Geoffrey Cox with some of the members of the Dartmoor Commoners’ Committee, Leyland Branfield, Mary Alford, Brian Lavis