Draft Howard Davis Farm (Abrogation of Covenant) (Jersey) Law 200-

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A decision made (25.05.2006) to approve the draft Howard Davis Farm (Abrogation of Covenant) (Jersey) Law 200- and agree that it be lodged 'au Greffe'.

Subject:	DRAFT HOWARD DAVIS FARM (ABROGATION OF COVENANT) (JERSEY) LAW 200-
Decision Reference:	MD-PH-2006-0043	Exempt clause(s):	N/A
Type of Report: (oral or written)	Written	Person Giving Report (if oral):
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?	N/A	Report File ref:	2/845/1
Written Report – Title	Howard Davis Farm – Abrogation of Covenant	Written report - author	P Tucker - Director of Property Services
Decision(s): To approve the draft Howard Davis Farm (Abrogation of Covenant) (Jersey) Law 200- and agree that it be lodged ‘au Greffe’.
Reason(s) for decision: To ask the States to pass a law which will enable the removal of the existing covenants included as part of the original 1927 Deed of Gift by T B Davis, of Howard Davis Farm and other land, to allow the site to be used, and/or to be sold or leased, free of any conditions which require the land and buildings to be used as an agricultural training centre and experimental farm.
Action required: Assistant Minister to sign Statement of Human Rights Compatibility. States Greffier to be requested to lodge the draft law and report for debate by the States Assembly as soon as possible and on or before the day that the Report and Proposition is lodged for the sale of land in parts of Fields 562, 827 and 828, Trinity to the Jersey Milk Marketing Board
[1] Deputy J Le Fondré	Date of Decision: 25th May 2006.
			[1] Under delegated powers approved by the Minister for Treasury and Resources 22 December 2005

Draft Howard Davis Farm (Abrogation of Covenant) (Jersey) Law 200-

REPORT

HOWARD DAVIS FARM

(REMOVAL OF COVENANT) ( JERSEY ) LAW 200-

Introduction

Parkfield (later to be named Howard Davis Farm), amounting to the house, farm buildings and 40 vergées of land, was gifted to the Public of the Island by the late Thomas Benjamin Frederick Davis and accepted by the Act of the States on the 17th December 1927. A covenant attached to the gifting imposed certain conditions as to the use of the land and buildings. It was one of four separate corpus-fundi transferred by Mr Davis to the Public of the Island in perpetuity and gifted for –

“the purpose of establishing there, under the administration of the Committee of Agriculture of the States, an experimental farm for developing the study of agriculture and for instructing in that science young people and other interested parties”

A very small percentage of the current uses at Howard Davis Farm actually fall within the uses permitted under the terms of this covenant with the evolution of Island agriculture and alternative methods of providing research and training within the industry.

Existing Uses

The current uses include part of the Philip Mourant Further Education and Training Centre and its Art Block which is operated as an extension of the Highlands College campus but currently has little or no demand for courses in agricultural subjects.

The main building is used as the office accommodation for Environmental Services and apart from trials work and laboratory work which is undertaken in entomology and plant diseases there is little else which could be accepted as being within the conditions of the covenant. A small number of agricultural administrative staff and produce inspectors are accommodated in offices at the site.

Some trials work is currently in progress on Field 827 involving potato blight treatment and the planting of buffer zones around the perimeter of agricultural fields. The glasshouses are for the most part unused by the States being licensed for use by private growers on a short term basis.

There are three residential units on the site all of which are occupied by staff employed by Environmental Services on an open market rental basis.

Acorn Enterprises operates from polytunnels and buildings on Field 567. This is a commercial operation growing seedlings and bedding plants which employs and trains people with learning difficulties and those in need of rehabilitation into the work environment. They also recycle timber for reuse in the building industry.

Transport and Technical Services have two storage buildings adjacent to Field 567 in which they operate a commercial compost bagging plant together with other machinery which most recently has been used to liquidise surplus tomato crops brought in by private growers.

Removal of Covenant

The majority of current and proposed future uses of the land and buildings at Howard Davis Farm are not within the uses dictated by the precise wording within the original 1927 Deed of Gift by the late T B Davis. It is therefore necessary to correct that situation by abrogation or variation by passing a law to that effect. Previous examples of this include the former Maternity Hospital in St Saviour’s Road, now used as offices and Le Bas Centre, and the former Westaway Crèche, which is now used as accommodation for medical and nursing staff.

The need for an experimental or training facility devoted to agriculture has diminished and there is a need for the land and buildings at Howard Davis Farm to have alternative uses. It is essential therefore that, even if the property is retained in Public ownership, the States is asked to adopt a law which abrogates the existing covenant to allow those alternate uses and regularise the position.

Future Sale of Land

It is not considered acceptable for the States to have accepted a gift of this nature on terms which create a charitable trust and then simply pass a law abrogating the conditions relating to the charitable purposes and to use the site for other, non charitable purposes with no further reference to the purpose for which the gift was given.

Therefore, in asking the States to adopt the law, the Minister will also seek for any capital that may be received from future sales of the land or building, which are currently included in the 1927 Deed of Gift, to be vested in the Treasurer of the States and kept by him in a separate interest earning account until such time that provision has been made by statute for the setting up of a trust fund which is within the spirit of the original charitable purposes of the T B Davis gift.

There are no other financial or manpower implications.