Derbyshire farm could be used as driver training centre for …
A Derbyshire farm hit by avian flu is looking to lease land for an excavator driver training facility to fill gaps in professionals for major projects including HS2[1]. David Poyser of DCP Farms filed the application for nine acres of unviable farmland at Brooklands House Farm in Grove Lane, Doveridge, alongside the A50[2].
Mr Poyser has filed the application to Derbyshire Dales District Council in a bid to diversify his business and bounce back from severe financial difficulties brought on by an avian flu outbreak. The outbreak, in November last year, led to the loss of 15,000 chickens over three days and the end of the family’s free-range egg business, with the business having delivered eggs to Ashbourne[3], Burton[4], Derby[5], Rocester, Uttoxeter[6] and Yoxall, including many shops and restaurants.
Birds will not be able to be kept at the farm until February 2024, Mr Poyser wrote in his application, saying Government policy does not provide compensation for farms hit by avian flu, which he says Dales MP Sarah Dines has helped him lobby for. Plans for the driver training facility for excavator construction vehicles would be housed on land which Mr Poyser said has not been capable of growing crops since waste was tipped on the site as part of building the neighbouring A50.
It had been used for sheep grazing and latterly was home to a chicken shed, though this was closed in May 2021 due to the cost of feed, linked to the war in Ukraine. DOTTS, would be the company setting up shop on the site to train drivers in a range of construction vehicles including a bulldozer, a tracked excavator, a rail-mounted wheeled excavator, a rail-mounted mobile elevated work platform and a rail-mounted small utility vehicle.
The company currently has a number of sites across the Midlands, including a HQ at the Midland Heritage Railway in Butterley, along with bases in Walsall, Nottingham and Nuneaton, but now wants a “one-stop-shop” in Doveridge to consolidate its business, with expansion at Butterley not possible. A 100-metre length of railway track would be installed on the site for trainees to learn how to operate a number of the machines.
Meanwhile, the training ground would be used for construction training activities including a digging area for the bulldozer and excavator, a small roller area consisting of kerb stones and ground to be rolled, and an inclined area with a platform for a dump truck to traverse up and down and manoeuvre, whilst discharging material. A decision on the application will be made by the district council in the next few months.
The application details: “The sub-letting of this small parcel of land to DOTTS will provide secondary income that will sustain the farm during the next 24 months whilst Brooklands House Farm is recovering in its farming activity from its devastating loss. The sub-letting provides some financial support to the farm in returning to its primary source of income and future viability.
“DOTTS is a successful and growing business with a need to consolidate operations on this site to serve the construction and rail sectors, improve their offering and grow their business further. This is very important because it will directly lead to job creation and will support the development of skills in key sectors which are experiencing skills shortages.
“These sectors are key to economic strategies and the development of skills is a key aspect of such strategies. The proposals would also create indirect benefits to the local economy as well as benefit David and Mandy Poyser financially to support their farming activity, particularly following recent events with avian influenza.”
The site would run from 8am until 4pm and only on weekdays, with 5-10 people on-site at any one time, and would create four full-time and two part-time jobs, with 12 parking spaces on site, the application details. A report filed with the application says: “There are significant skill shortages in the construction sector and even more so in the rail sector over the next five to ten years.
“With major infrastructure projects due to take place, particularly in the Midlands and the Northeast and West of England, DOTTS are looking to consolidate premises in Doveridge to create a functional training and assessment facility for all plant training and assessment. Serious systemic issues in the industry’s talent and skills pipeline have created a shortage of trained and talented employees, just when the industry needs them most.”
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References
- ^ HS2 (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ A50 (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Ashbourne (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Burton (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Derby (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Uttoxeter (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Nurse 'feared for life' during man's road rage in middle of A50 (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ the main Derbyshire Live newsletter here. (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)