I completely agree. The point is that we must get the balance right. Our part of the country is the most densely populated outside London, and we need more homes. We also need more space for businesses, and particularly higher-skilled businesses, to grow. However, we absolutely need as much land as possible for high-quality agriculture and food and drink production. I am certainly in favour of some land being used for solar farms and other environmentally friendly energy production, but not high-quality agricultural land. So we have to get the balance right in terms of what is best in which parts of our rural landscape, because each element will suffer if we do not.
My hon. Friend the Member for Lewes made a good point about farmers’ costs. I think the cost of fertiliser has gone up from something like £250 a tonne to £900 a tonne at its peak. Fertiliser is energy-intensive and comes from Russia and other such countries. In that respect, I hope the Minister is aware of the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project—indeed, his Department has given a grant to the pilots ongoing in Sussex bay. The project is one of the most exciting and environmentally friendly going on at the moment. We are assessing whether the decision by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—for which I am glad we lobbied—to ban near-shore trawling in Sussex bay will enable us to restore the kelp beds so that seaweed can once again become a thing of Sussex beaches. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, around the time I became the MP for Worthing, you could often smell Worthing before you could see it. On hot days in high summer, seaweed would be washed
up on the shore where it would rot. In the old days, local farmers would bring their tractors on to the beach and gather up the seaweed to use as a natural fertiliser. However, when industrially produced fertilisers became much more economical, that fell by the wayside. Then, the seaweed disappeared, because of the aggressive activities of trawlers—some of which came from Newhaven, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes, although it is a long-running saga between Newhaven and Shoreham as to which harbour is responsible—and a whole host of other reasons.
We now have the prospect of regrowing that seaweed in a planned agricultural, farmed way. Seaweed absorbs six times as much carbon as trees and provides marine habitats, with breeding and feeding environments. It is exceedingly efficient at absorbing energy and therefore cuts down on the need for sea defences, so the Environment Agency is a big fan of this plan. Seaweed also provides cattle feed and fertiliser and is a superfood for humans as well. It ticks a whole lot of boxes. If we can make it work in Sussex bay, the prospect of it catching on along other parts of the United Kingdom coastline—we have 12,000 miles or so—is considerable. It would help with fertiliser, our carbon commitments and assorted other things. That form of agriculture could turn out to be a major benefit on so many fronts, and I very much hope the Minister will give his support to the project as the results from the pilots come in over the next few years.
Agriculture is about so much more than just arable land and livestock. In West Sussex, we have the best vineyards in the country—of course, there are a few in East Sussex as well—which produce the finest sparkling wine in the world. Sussex Sparkling is, of course, a trademark, pioneered by Mark Driver at Rathfinny vineyard in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes, where I grew up and spent many happy years in ancient times. It is a fast-growing and successful industry that is taking on the world with the quality of its produce.
Agriculture is also bringing tourism into Sussex. Just as people might go to Bordeaux or the south of France and tour the vineyards, they can now come to Sussex and tour various vineyards in East and West Sussex. People can go to farms, farm shops, galleries, seaside resorts—to Eastbourne pier and Worthing pier—and to decent restaurants serving local produce, such as scallops from Shoreham, which is the United Kingdom’s main centre for landing scallops. Agriculture is going to be a serious element in attracting domestic tourism—people spending time at home—and foreign visitors coming to our shores.
As noted by my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne, although her chronology was a little out, agricultural land houses agricultural and heritage assets as well. Our farmers are important custodians of scheduled monuments and many other important historical sites. In my constituency, we have Cissbury Ring, one of our largest iron age hill forts, which was the scene of Neolithic flint mines, a mint in medieval times and so on. We must remunerate and recognise farmers for the important duties they have as stewards of the land—not just for environmental and agricultural production reasons, but for the preservation, conservation and promotion of our heritage.
I am pleased by the pioneering work of the Sussex police commissioner and the local police force in looking after our agricultural areas. Their job is not just to look
after some of the heritage sites, but to clamp down on the dog attacks we have seen. Sussex fares particularly badly in that respect, and we need to do more to clamp down on irresponsible dog owners. Farmers also have to deal with the big menace of fly-tipping, which costs them many thousands of pounds, with the hare coursing that goes on and with unlawful Traveller encampments. All of that tends to hit farms and agricultural land disproportionately. Having 21 officers across the whole of Sussex to police the crime that happens in our rural areas is not nearly enough.
I emphasise how important agriculture is. It is not just about farmyards producing wheat, some nice chickens, eggs and everything that goes with that. The knock-on effects—on the local economy, small businesses and the workforce—are considerable. The labour shortage is causing serious problems, and I would certainly reinforce to the Minister the point about having greater flexibility about agricultural worker permits.
Let us celebrate our farmers. Let us celebrate our agriculture. Let us celebrate the food security that our local farmers bring us. But, above all, let us celebrate the world-beating, outstanding food and drink—particularly the sparkling wine—that we produce in Sussex. It can take on the rest of the world with confidence and beat it. Long may it be encouraged to do so.
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