A petition calling for a full review and debate of Pembrokeshire’s “not fit for purpose” county farm policy which attracted nearly 2,000 signatures, is to come under further council scrutiny at a special group.

The Pembrokeshire County Council e-petition was launched by tenants who were being forced to leave their council-owned farm which is host to a Good Food Guide accredited restaurant.

Paternoster Farm near Hundleton, which has a restaurant run by former family solicitor, Michelle Evans in the old milking shed, has featured in the Good Food Guide for the last three years.

However, the acclaimed business built up over the last four years was under threat, as the ten-year farm tenancy with Pembrokeshire County Council came to an end.

Since then, the farm has been given a reprieve, members of Pembrokeshire County Council, meeting on July 17 heard, with an extension period of grace now allowing them to remain until at least August 2027.

The e-petition to Pembrokeshire County Council, heard at the July 17 meeting said: “We call for a motion of no confidence in both county farm policy, and the county farm estate department. We call upon Pembrokeshire County Council to commission an independent review of farm policy by suitably qualified (independent) third parties.”

The petition went on to say: “Current county farm policy has been shown to support neither farm diversification nor integration into the community. This has been illustrated by the recent treatment of the current tenants of Paternoster Farm.”

Pembrokeshire County Council has previously said that proposals at Paternoster were in line with council policy, with novice farmers being offered a smaller farm while they get established in the industry before moving on to bigger establishments; the 10-year lease entered into reflecting this policy.

Speaking at the July meeting, Michelle Evans said the 2020 policy was introduced when they were already four years into their 10-year tenancy and were not aware of its existence until five years later, with the cost of a move to an alternative location “prohibitive”.

Leader Cllr Jon Harvey acknowledged there had been communication issues, saying a formal review was due to take place later this year.

Cllr Jamie Adams agreed there was inconsistency across the county farms policy but there was need to look at potential impact in detail, describing Paternoster as providing “the very best of produce to both visitors and locals alike”.

He proposed the suggestions be discussed further by the county farms working group, rather than make “a knee-jerk” reaction in the 15 minutes allowed for petitions discussions.

Chief Executive Will Bramble said the original policy was to avoid ‘bed blocking’ of county farms, but publicity of the 2020 policy details were not publicised as well as could be due to a “failure of communications”.

Cllr Aled Thomas, chair of the county farms working group, a former tenant farmer himself, said he understood how “gut-wrenching” changes like this were.

Members agreed the petition be sent to the county farms working group.