The Tenant Farmers Association has warned Somerset county councillors that it must not squander vital assets through a "knee-jerk" policy of farm disposal in the county.

The TFA has written to all cabinet members prior to their meeting on Monday at which they will consider a paper which will propose what is effectively a policy which will lead to the disposal of all or most of the Somerset County Council farms estate.

TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said: "Whenever county farms issues have been raised in Somerset in the past there has been a groundswell of public support for their retention. This reached a peak in relation to the "Battle for Ballam Hill” in 2006 - only four years ago - where the public mounted a concerted effort against the County Council to save the popular Ballam Hill farm and its associated farm shop. It is therefore vital in any reassessment of policy for county farms that there is a full engagement with the public. There does not appear to have been any public consultation prior to Monday’s meeting."

County councillors are trustees of the local authority's assets and are charged with ensuring that council tax payers are receiving good value for money and that assets are not squandered. It has been suggested by the lead Councillor for resources (Councillor Huxtable) that whilst county farms have been compared to ‘the family silver’ that the intention is to use the proceeds of sale of holdings to buy ‘gold’. “The report being considered by the Cabinet highlights the fact that some £14 million has been raised from farm disposals over the past five years. However, no information is provided about where this money has gone. Cabinet members have not been provided with any information to suggest where this £14 million has been invested. This is very different to the situation in the neighbouring county of Gloucestershire which has, over the past 30 years, raised £100 million of value for its council tax payers through carefully planned, strategic disposals of land for development uplift whilst maintaining the size of its estate largely intact – it has retained the silver not lost it. It has been able through a carefully crafted asset management plan to harvest value from the estate whilst retaining the asset value. I fail to understand why this is not possible in the case of Somerset,” said Mr Dunn.

“I am also greatly troubled that the Cabinet intends only taking two months to review its policy. I have urged the Cabinet members not to take a precipitous decision which they and council taxpayers will in time regret. Rather than taking the wrong decision in a short period of time it is essential that the Cabinet takes the right amount of time to make the correct decision for all concerned. I have advised the Cabinet not to make a decision which sets a policy based on the presumption of disposal but takes the time to do a thorough review as other local authorities have done," said Mr Dunn.