Experimental Farm Buildings (Hansard, 16 February 1960)

§ Mr. John Hare

Much research has been and is being done on the basic requirements which farm buildings should supply. It has, however, become increasingly apparent that there is a lack of facilities for development work to bridge the gap between research and practical application and a need for trials of experimental buildings. Development work and trials of this kind can best be carried out on farms, which can be chosen to provide the necessary range of conditions, rather than at a research centre or centres.

To meet this situation, and at the same time to overcome the difficulty that buildings of an experimental or unproved nature would not qualify for assistance under the Farm Improvement Scheme, the Agricultural Research Council proposes to introduce a scheme of co-ordinated experiments under which grants, up to a maximum of 50 per cent. of the approved cost, would be available for the erection in approved cases of experimental buildings or structures on farms or for incorporating experimental features in traditional buildings. The scheme will be administered under the supervision of the Farm Buildings Research Committee of the Council, of which Sir Walter Drummond is the Chairman, and the experimental work will be under the control of the Council's Farm Buildings Unit.

In return for a grant under this scheme the farmer or landowner by whom the building is erected will be required to co-operate with the Farm 110W Buildings Unit in the design of the building and to provide facilities for the inspection of the building and the observations required during the course of the investigation.

The scheme will be administered and the grants will be payable by the Agricultural Research Council. In no case will a grant be awarded for a building project for which a grant is being made under any other Government scheme. Experimental or unproved buildings are not in any case eligible for a grant under the Farm Improvement Scheme where grant may only be given if the building is such as a prudent landlord would erect and is such as would clearly provide long-term benefit to the land at a reasonable cost.

It is not intended to give grant-aid in respect of all projects which comply with specified conditions but only in respect of proposals that can suitably form part of the experimental programme of the Farm Buildings Research Committee. Applications for grant will not in any case be considered in respect of building projects which have already been started. Further particulars of the scheme, and the way in which application should be made for grants under the scheme, will be announced in due course.

Farms in England, Wales and Scotland will be eligible for grants under this scheme. The scheme will not cover Northern Ireland.