Young north coast farming family face loss of livelihood after shock Sutherland Estates land lease decision
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A YOUNG North Coast farming family have spoken of their shock and upset after landowner Sutherland Estates put the lease they have held for years out to public tender.
Ross (35) and Donna Robertson (32), who have three small children and whose family have run Tongue Mains Farm for over 30 years, are now facing the potential loss of their main livelihood.
Mrs Robertson has said the uncertainty over their future has badly affected her husband’s mental health and she has criticised Sutherland Estates' representatives for poor communication and a lack of empathy or understanding of their plight.
It is thought that the move over the grazings lease could be linked to Sutherland Spaceport, under construction at A'Mhoine, with an interested party told that two fields on the farm will have restricted use as it is intended to use them as a viewing area for rocket launches.
And the Robertsons have been informed that a steading they used as part of the farm is being resumed by the estate. It has been suggested it could be in line for conversion to accommodation.
Mrs Robertson said: “I feel there is a bigger picture that we are obviously not being told about.”
The 62 hectare Tongue Mains Farm, one of the largest landholdings in the area, has been in the Robertson family hands since it was taken over by Mr Robertson’s grandfather, Fred, in 1992. The farmhouse is not part of the grazings lease, but is under a separate agreement.
Mr Robertson has run it for the past 13 years or so and manages a flock of 200 North Country Cheviot Sheep and 15 Ling cattle. His lambs recently fetched top prices at Dingwall Mart.
Mrs Robertson said: “When Fred took the farm over it was on a five-year lease and when Ross took it over in his own name he also got a five-year lease, but about eight years ago it was changed to a yearly lease.
“The paperwork would come in the post and it would just be renewed. It was never something we worried about. Last year we did try and ask them for more security so we could try and make it more profitable rather than just running year on year.”
The couple were shocked to receive a letter in late March from Rob Whitson of land agents Bell Ingram informing them that ‘trustees' wished to put the Tongue Mains grazings out to tender this year.
Mr Whitson wrote that the Robertsons were not “precluded” from tendering but reminded them that their lease expired on May 11 and stated that if they were not successful the estate would “grant you a short-term licence to allow you to make the necessary arrangements for stock etc”.
Mrs Robertson said it was “shocking and worrying news”, made worse by the fact they could not immediately speak to Mr Whitson who had gone on holiday, and no one else from his office would talk to them.
She added: “During this incredibly worrying time for us, we have had extremely poor and unreliable communication from Bell Ingram,”
The couple “fought” to negotiate an extension of their lease until October and say they have since had upsetting and stressful demands from Bell Ingram representatives regarding the clearing of the steading and the ownership of farm equipment and infrastructure, and repair work.
“My husband’s mental health has been affected and he has had to contact RSABI on many occasions due to the position Bell Ingram and Sutherland Estates has put us in,” said Mrs Robertson.
The grazings lease was due to be advertised at the end of May but has only been put in the public domain recently. The Robertsons have put in a tender offering double the rent they currently pay but say they have been told “to expect not to win the tender and be ready to leave on the 31st”.
A disillusioned Mr Robertson sold all his lambs at Dingwall - something he would not normally do.
“We have accepted that we will probably be out in October,” said Mrs Robertson. “We are just done with it now. It has been a long, drawn-out process. It is incredibly sad.”
The Northern Times asked Mr Whitson and Bell Ingram to respond to the Robertsons’ criticisms but received an email from land agent Anastasia Young stating: “The person you have contacted is on annual leave this week and therefore will not be able to respond.”
However in his March letter Mr Whitson wrote that the trustees had an obligation to “optimise all the resources on the estate”. He added that the estate intended to regain possession of the steading in order for it to be “made available for other potential uses”.
