Growing crops under polytunnels isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Despite being central to the massive sales growth of soft fruit and other crops in recent times, despite the fact that the structures do little or nothing to damage the environment and help combat ‘air miles’ in this age of carbon footprinting, and despite the fact that they are responsible for improved yields, quality and season length, polytunnels remain consistently maligned in some areas of the country.
The sense of this remains baffling to many outside of the areas - most notably Herefordshire and Surrey - where the voices of a number of dissenting residents has threatened to see the rulebook torn up and new legislation potentially introduced that could cost growers thousands in new and retrospective planning costs.
The ongoing face-off between industry and a small group of determined and well-organised local residents over the issue has been happening for some years of course, but developments have accelerated significantly since the High Court ruled late last year that temporary structures at Hall Hunter’s Tuesley Farm in Surrey did in fact require planning permission. It was a decision that represented a great victory for a group of 80 or so families who had fought against Hall Hunter for some considerable time, and a major defeat for the sector.
Industry representatives argued that judge Jeremy Sullivan’s ruling applied only to the Hall Hunter case, and should not be viewed as a national precendent, but a can of worms appeared to have been opened when Herefordshire Council cited Sullivan’s decision after it issued updated planning advice to its officers stating that all new and some existing tunnels would have to go through the planning process, contradicting its own voluntary code of operation.
The NFU, fearing that its voluntary code of practice could also be under threat, has turned its attention to the government and is calling for clear guidance on what can and cannot be put up under planning law.
There has been a palpable lack of clarity from London when it comes to the issue, and the uncertainty and worry that this is causing has led to the union calling for a judicial review. Chief horticultural adviser Philip Hudson explained that the NFU has now put £10,000 into a war chest to support Herefordshire growers in their battle to have the council’s decision challenged, with British Summer Fruits putting up the same sum to take the case forward.
Hudson said that a meeting had been made, cancelled and then rearranged for June with the Department of Communities and Local Government at which it will try to get the issue onto the government’s agenda. The meeting could yet be timely, with the government announcing a planning white paper only this week.
“We hope to get some central government guidance on this,” Hudson explained. “The general consensus out there among growers is that some clarity is needed on the situation, although we are very much at the beginning of the process.”
The unfortunate thing is that even a successful judicial review would only see the industry back to where it was before the Herefordshire decision, with some uncertainty still remaining over the future of temporary tunnels and even the voluntary code.
The NFU’s actions are part of numerous attempts to get polytunnels onto the political agenda. In March Georgina Bass launched a petition on the Prime Minister’s website imploring the government to remove the need for planning permission for polytunnels. Although 779 signatories put their names forward - including some of the most prominent figures in the industry - it appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
Hall Hunter’s local MP, Jeremy Hunt, had described the High Court decision in December as ‘the best possible Christmas present for local residents who have waged a tireless campaign against these polytunnels.’ He went on: “Everyone understands the need for farmers to make a living, but polytunnels have an enormous impact on both the landscape, the environment and the ecology of an area. It is therefore only right that farmers should have to go through proper planning procedures before putting them up.”
Of course, horticulture is neither a fashionable parliamentary discussion topic nor an election winner, but even the All-Party Parliamentary Fruit Group, which, one might think, would be the industry’s best hope of getting its voice heard in Westminster, has singularly failed to put the case across. By contrast, its secretary, Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, Hugh Robertson, argued that the issue was best kept as far away from the public consciousness as possible. “Those of us who support the fruit industry are rather hoping that as an issue if we don’t shake it up we can keep it under control,” he told Commercical Grower, without elaborating on how he defined ‘under control’.
Robertson said that in his constituency growers had succeeded in placating the locals by following the voluntary code and putting up numerous windbreaks. He cited a survey in Kent showing 69 percent of the public to be in favour of polytunnels, and believes that it is through measures such as these and farming sensitively that growers can avoid the ‘unnecessary and unwarranted’ planning hassles that they are now facing.
It is interesting to note that while growers in England are worriedly pondering how their own local councils might interpret the Hall Hunter decision, there appear at present to be no such concerns north of the border.
Well-pict European Scotland’s Andrew Cranston said that as things stand polytunnels are simply not an issue for communities in the country. “This area, maybe unlike some in England, has always grown soft fruit, so many people grew up working on soft fruit farms during their holidays,” he muses.
Cranston also floats the possibility that some areas in England could be suffering from retirees having moved out of the city to the country, who then complain when a polytunnel appears to shatter their idea of pristine countryside. “We’re still very much an agricultural community [in this area of Scotland],” he maintains. “Farmers are very big employers, and it has a big effect on the local community.”
It is not just trade associations and unions that are putting forward the case, but growers and manufacturers too are fighting back, through a combination of well-argued sense and a public relations charm offensive.
In Herefordshire, a local growers group, formed some two years ago with 17 members using tunnels, has been working hard to explain to residents exactly why the structures are vital to British life. At a local county rally last weekend attended by around 2,000 people, growers from the group were on hand to demonstrate the pivotal role that polytunnels play in reducing imports and giving more access to home grown produce.
The group’s efforts seem to be paying dividends, with a local newspaper dedicating significant space to an article entitled ‘Strawberries providing a vital stream of income’.
Technology may also have a part to play in changing public perceptions about polystructures, with green polythene one of the most significant developments currently under examination. A jointly funded Haygrove and BPI green polythene trial is under way on Anthony Snell’s farm in Herefordshire, managed by FAST. The trial sees five films being put under the microscope - three clear UV films and two based on Luminance THB, with some being placed close to the roadside to gauge public reaction.
The films include a standard clear film, a clear bright green film, a clear dull green film, a standard Luminance THB film and a barley green Luminance THB film. All the tunnels have been deliberately side skirted so that the tunnels are independent of one another.
Haygrove director John Berry explained that FAST expects to be reporting the results in the next few months. Picking began on May 4, with four pickings having taken place so far. Preliminary results show that the clear films have all proved warmer than the Luminance THB films, a result that was as expected as Luminance is now a standard film to keep crops under.
So far, according to early indications, the clear poly produced the earliest crops, with the dull green close behind. The bright green tunnel appears to be delayed even though it is often proving warmer than Luminance. And there is as yet no clear impact on Brix levels.
Early indications then might seem encouraging, but not everybody is so convinced. Although admitting that there is a good deal of interest in the strawberry market for a camouflage film that is in development, XL Horticulture’s Les Lane believes that green may not be the answer as the crops do not get the correct UV spectrum, with green interrupting too much infrared in strawberries.
Kevin Williams of J&K adds that changing film colour might not make a great deal of difference, suspecting that it is the structures themselves that objectors are against rather than the specific colour of the film. But he warns that it is those same complainants that will suffer if their remonstrations force the supermarkets into importing more produce from Spain and Portugal rather than growing them here.
Away from the politics of planning, there are numerous developments afoot. XL Horticulture is shortly to roll out a national collection system for recycling, whereby the firm sends out a dumping bag, which is then used to place the polythene in at the end of its useful life. It is then sent via a national carrier to one of a number of recycling partners that the firm has established nationwide.
Haygrove meanwhile is continuing its work on telescopic tunnels. The firm reports that average temperatures for crops in the down position under telescopic tunnels are warmer than under standard Haygrove tunnels, with gains depending on attention to sealing up all possible air gaps. Typically, gains are in the 3-4C region.
John Berry says that the robust nature of telescopic tunnels means that they can be skinned much earlier, meaning essentially that when the crop breaks dormancy - typically in January - the plant can immediately develop if the polythene skins are on. Not only does this aid the speed of plant growth, but will also ripen fruit earlier and yield much higher. Added benefits are said to include the fact that when the temperature gets too hot in the months of April and May, the structures can be lifted and enjoy full summer venting and large air volume.
The firm, which reports that half of all its tunnel sales are now of the telescopic variety, says that the full list of benefits includes earlier and later season production, winter plantings for evermore earliness, late and very early cover of summer planted strawberry tips, and substrate double cropping over a long season.
Haygrove also points out that other crops including asparagus, aubergines, nursery stock, peppers, cut flowers and a whole range of organic produce, are now picking up on the advantages of telescopic tunnels.
BPI visqueen has launched a three to five year trial looking at selective blocking of UV, a development which could have an influence on, for example, colour in flowering plants or flavour in strawberries. Although still very much in its early days, the company believes there may well be some potential in the development.
Polybuild meanwhile is turning its attention to the impacts of climate change, pointing to the fact that increased rainfall, higher temperatures and stronger winds are having an effect on polystructure development. In response to this, the company has sought to increase the strength, robustness and longevity of its polygreenhouses, as well as working on the development of designs capable of combating high temperatures with improved ventilation rates.
Polybuild’s Jonty Swales explains that the company is tackling these issues through the use of more rectangular section steel gutter posts on multispan structures. Its own hollow extruded aluminium ‘wide walk in’ gutters to valleys and sides are being utilised for strength and rigidity, while the company recommends properly tied and trussed hoops for multispans and the larger span tunnels to triangulate the roof truss strength in tension.
On its greenhouses, Polybuild has been focusing its attention on doors and ventilation systems. In the case of the latter, its ‘double roll’ system is said to allow double efficiency in rolling up to full height ‘walk thru’ access/ventilation for any greenhouse, giving growers ambient outside conditions as required.
Elsewhere the R&D team at Northern Polytunnels has introduced two new products to the commercial structures market, an aluminium commercial side gutter and commercial beam design. The former is available on all NP nursery structures, and can be attached to the side of the structure. The double rail allows the polythene and the shade netting to be fitted into separate grooves on one rail, offering the benefit of allowing the collection of rainwater from the polytunnels which can then be diverted into water storage tanks.
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