Agricultural land owned by University
Dear Cardiff Metropolitan University,
SOS-UK is developing a programme to support universities and colleges to manage the agricultural land that they own to achieve their Net Zero targets and to support the recovery of nature and biodiversity in the UK.
We are writing to all universities and colleges across the UK to find out if they (or any wholly owned subsidiary) own agricultural land, so that we can plan our new programme to best fit the needs of the sector.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, we would appreciate it if you could please provide us with responses to the questions below, to help us with this important work.
We define a "wholly owned subsidiary" to be a company or other formally recognised organisation that is under full ownership or control of the university.
We define an "agricultural land" as per the Agricultural Act 1947:
“agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo...>)
Our request below therefore excludes any woodland that is managed for commercial production.
Please could you tell us:
1. Does your university, and/or any wholly owned subsidiary, own any agricultural land in the UK?
2. What is the approximate total area, in hectares, of the agricultural land holdings owned by your university, and/or wholly owned subsidiary, in the UK?
3. If the agricultural land that your university, and/or any wholly owned subsidiary, owns is split over multiple holdings under separate management, please could you tell us the number of separately managed agricultural holdings?
4. How many hectares of the agricultural land owned by your university, and/or any wholly owned subsidiary, are managed by staff employed directly by your university and/or the subsidiary?
5. How many hectares of the agricultural land owned by your university, and/or any wholly owned subsidiary, are leased to one or more tenant farmers?
6. Please tell us the type of leases in place on that tenanted land: (a) farm business tenancy (subject to the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995), (b) annual grazing/cropping license, (c) full agricultural tenancy (subject to the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1986), (d) other (please specify)
If you are interested to find out more about this work on farming, climate and nature please get in touch at [email address].
Yours faithfully,
SOS-UK
┌────────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┐
│Annwyl Kate, │Dear Kate, │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│Diolch am eich cais am wybodaeth (o │Thank you for your request for │
│dan Ddeddf Rhyddid Gwybodaeth 2000).│information (under the Freedom of │
│Derbyniwyd eich cais ar 25.05.2023 │Information Act 2000). Your request │
│a rhoddwyd y cyfeirnod canlynol │was received on the 25.05.2023 and│
│iddo: RI2370. Defnyddiwch y │has been given the following │
│cyfeirnod hwn ym mhob gohebiaeth yn │reference number: RI2370. Please use│
│y dyfodol os gwelwch yn dda. Diolch.│this reference number in all future │
│ │correspondence. Thank you. │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│Rydym yn ymdrechu i ymateb i’ch cais│ │
│yn brydlon, fodd bynnag, caniateir │We endeavour to respond to your │
│inni gymryd hyd at 20 diwrnod gwaith│request promptly, however we are │
│yn unol â’r Ddeddf – a’r diwrnod │permitted, under the Act, to take up│
│cyntaf yw’r diwrnod gwaith cyntaf ar│to 20 working days – the first day │
│ôl inni dderbyn y cais (nid yw hyn │being the first working day after │
│yn cynnwys dyddiau Sadwrn, dyddiau │the request is received (this does │
│Sul, Gwyliau Banc na Gwyliau │not include Saturdays, Sundays, Bank│
│Cyhoeddus). Os na allwn gwrdd â’r │Holidays or Public Holidays). If for│
│terfyn amser hwn am unrhyw reswm, │any reason we are unable to meet │
│byddwn yn rhoi manylion llawn ichi │this deadline we will keep you fully│
│am y rheswm/rhesymau pam na allwn │informed of the reason(s) why. │
│wneud hynny. │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │If you have any queries about this │
│Os oes gennych unrhyw ymholiadau am │acknowledgement and/or your request,│
│y neges gydnabod hon ac/neu eich │or if at any stage you are unhappy │
│cais, neu os byddwch yn anfodlon â’r│with the way in which your request │
│ffordd yr ydym yn delio â’ch cais ar│is being dealt with, please do not │
│unrhyw bryd, mae croeso ichi │hesitate to contact us by e-mail │
│gysylltu â ni trwy e-bost │([4][email address]).│
│([1][email address]).│ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │Thank you very much. │
│Diolch yn fawr iawn. │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │Yours sincerely, │
│Yr eiddoch yn gywir, │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ │Esther Steele │
│Esther Steele │ │
│ │Governance and Compliance Advisor │
│Ymgynghorydd Llywodraethu a │ │
│Chydymffurfiaeth │Cardiff Metropolitan University │
│ │ │
│Prifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd │Western Avenue │
│ │ │
│Rhodfa’r Gorllewin │Cardiff │
│ │ │
│Caerdydd │Wales, UK │
│ │ │
│Cymru, DU │CF5 2YB │
│ │ │
│CF5 2YB │ │
│ │ │
│ │Email: [5][email address] │
│ │ │
│E-bost: [2][email address]│ │
│ │ │
│ │[6]www.cardiffmet.ac.uk │
│ │ │
│[3]www.cardiffmet.ac.uk │ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
└────────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘
Dear Kate,
Reference Number: RI2370.
Thank you for your request for information (under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000) about agricultural land owned by Cardiff
Metropolitan University. The University can confirm that it does not own
any agricultural land in the UK and therefore we confirm a nil return to
your request for information.
If you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been dealt with
or with the outcome of the consideration given to your request, you may
ask for an Internal Review. If you are not content with the outcome of the
Internal Review you have the right to apply directly to the Information
Commissioner for a decision. Our procedure for carrying out Internal
Reviews can be found under the ‘Complaint’ section of [1]this document.
If you have any queries about this response or would like any further
information about your request, or the Freedom of Information Act in
general, please do not hesitate to contact us again by e-mail
([2][email address]).
Yours sincerely,
Esther Steele
Governance and Compliance Advisor / Ymgynghorydd Llywodraethu a
Chydymffurfiaeth
Cardiff Metropolitan University / Prifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd
Western Avenue / Rhodfa’r Gorllewin
Cardiff / Caerdydd
Wales, UK / Cymru, DU
CF5 2YB
Email / E-bost: [3][email address]
[4]www.cardiffmet.ac.uk
Compliance Information on InSite:
[5]https://outlookuwicac.sharepoint.com/sit...
Mae Met Caerdydd yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg a byddwn yn
sicrhau ein bod yn cyfathrebu â chi yn eich dewis iaith boed yn Gymraeg,
yn Saesneg neu’n ddwyieithog dim ond i chi roi gwybod i ni pa un sydd well
gennych. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi.
Cardiff Met welcomes correspondence in English and Welsh and we will
ensure that we communicate with you in the language of your choice,
whether that’s English, Welsh or bilingual as long as you let us know
which you prefer. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.
Dear Cardiff Metropolitan University,
Many thanks for taking the time to reply to our request. Your response is really valuable in helping us to assess the potential for farmland holdings in the education sector to have a positive impact for the climate and nature.
If you have any questions about our research or our programme, please feel free to get in touch with the team at [email address].
Warm regards,
Kate Winters
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now