The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2015 - Issue 37 | Page 14

farm news

YCF PUTS RURAL CRIME IN THE
SPOTLIGHT IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE
New Hall Farm at Ardsley near Barnsley in South Yorkshire
was the venue for a Yorkshire Conservation & Farming
event, where the focus was firmly on rural crime.
“Rural crime is a major concern and
should never be under-estimated,”
said YCF’s Fran Greenwood, who is
from a farming family herself.
“It not only has a significant effect on
the farming community but also impacts
on wider society, including within towns
and cities. Serious and organised crime
groups are often linked to rural, heritage
and wildlife crime particularly in relation
to theft of agricultural machinery, harecoursing and cannabis cultivation.
“That is why we decided to organise this
event for farmers, landowners and anyone
with an interest in the issue.”
The owners of New Hall Farm, Helen
and David Rhodes, experience rural crime
on their 800 acre working farm that has
been in the same family since 1953, and
is run entirely on conservation grade
principles.

‘That is why we decided
to organise this event
for farmers, landowners
and anyone with an
interest in the issue’
“Our farming methods are designed
to help protect the wildlife here,” said
Helen, “so it is so disheartening when we
experience incidents of crime involving
wildlife which seems to be on the increase
everywhere. But of course it is not just
about the wildlife – it is also about those
who are after anything they can steal, from
farm equipment, tractors, trailers, quads –
even horses and livestock,” Helen added.
Helen and David have a collection of
antique farming artefacts which they
display in the ancient barn in which the
YCF event was held. They have school
and community groups visiting to learn
about farming of yesteryear and the
importance of the land and how our food
is produced.

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Dec/Jan 2015 FarmersMart

“We were happy to offer the use of our
premises for this presentation by YCF
and get an update on the latest work the
police are doing to combat rural crime in
South Yorkshire.”

‘happy to offer the
use of our premises’
South Yorkshire Police SNT & Wildlife
Crime Officer, PC Paul Jameson, gave an
informative insight into the work that he
and his colleagues carry out and explained
how utilising today’s technology is helping
in intelligence and evidence gathering
between the police and the farming and
broader rural community.
Initiatives such as Rural Watch comprising Gamekeeper Watch, Badger
Watch, Equestrian Watch etc enable
farmers and other landowners to report
any suspicious activity on their land.
This is recorded and police will follow
up though PC Jameson admitted that an
instant response is not always possible
because of lack of resources owing to
cuts in policing, and other pressures on
the force.
“We do need the involvement of farmers
and the rural community,” he said. “It is
a very important aspect of our work. We
also work closely with other organisations
with an involvement in rural affairs –
including Natural England, the League
Against Cruel Sports, the Badger Trust,
RSPCA, RSPB, BASC, the NFU and the
local authority. This is the Partnership for
Action against Wildlife Crime (PAWS).”
“Rural crime \