I'm a farmer - ridiculous David vs Goliath Labour policy has cost me £4,800

A farmer has hit out at a Government policy after losing out on £4,800 in revenue. Robert Allison, 59, whose family has farmed land in Ongar, Essex, since 1953, says reforms to telecoms laws have already slashed the rent paid for a mobile phone mast on his land by 80%. The mast once provided a reliable £6,000 a year, paid for hosting the technology on their land. This helped to cover essential costs such as fertiliser, machinery, building materials and diesel. But today, Mr Alison says that income has been cut to around £1,200.

The Essex land-owner's loss comes as farm finances face growing pressure. Government support from the Rural Payments Agency - once worth more than £100,000 a year to some - is being phased out, and replaced with smaller, "delinked" payments. Some farms have had to adapt to a more hostile environment.

Mr Allison, who runs the farm with his wife, Beccy, also 59, said: "My family has farmed this land since 1953. Like many farms, we've had to diversify over the years just to survive - converting old cow sheds into units and repurposing old chicken sheds as government support is phased out.

"That's why it's so frustrating to see other sources of income squeezed as well.

"Changes to telecoms legislation mean the rent we receive for hosting a mobile mast has been slashed from around £6,000 a year to roughly £1,200, even though we're still expected to host the tower, maintain the land around it and pay for things like fencing to keep the site secure.

"Farmers want to support better mobile coverage and 5G connectivity, but the current system feels completely one-sided. Hearing that the Government now wants to expand it even further makes you question whether it's worth doing your bit to support connectivity.

"For family farms like ours, it increasingly feels like David versus Goliath."

Since changes were made to the Electronic Communications Code introduced in 2017, including the replacement of market value rents with a "no-scheme" valuation system.

Under this system, the rent is calculated based on what the land is worth to the landowner decisions have reportedly consistently decreased the financial return for those hosting telecoms infrastructure.

It was usual for landowners to receive an annual rent for hosting a mast, as well as a share of income their land was used by multiple mobile phone operators.

Firms charged competitors annually - up to £15,000 or more - to share.

Landowners tended to receive between 10% and 50% of this extra cash, most commonly around 30%.

But recent arrangements have consistently seen a lower return for landowners, with annual rents being cut from about £7,000 to £2,000.

This is even the case before sharing payments are removed, Farmers Weekly reported.

Labour is now preparing to extend the same framework further.

From April 7, additional provisions under Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act (PSTI) are set to come into force, which are expected to affect a further 15,000 sites across the UK.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) suggested last year that telecoms companies "could be given powers to rewrite mobile phone mast lease renewal agreements agreed before 2017, which usually would be renewed on the same terms including how the rent is calculated".

Campaigners warn the move could expose thousands more landowners - including farmers, schools, churches and small businesses - to steep rent reductions.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) told The Express that its priority is to "continue delivering high quality 5G networks across the UK, which is critical to boosting growth and improving public services for the British people".

A spokesperson added: "We want to ensure the measures to deliver the infrastructure the country needs to grow work for landowners, operators and communities, which is why they were subject to a technical consultation which closed on 2 July."

The department also said: "The facts of this Government's approach towards 5G rollout speak for themselves. 5G is now available outside 96% of premises across the UK, improving everyday services for millions of people.

"Our priority is to continue delivering high quality 5G networks critical to boosting local growth and improving public services across the UK, as part of our Plan for Change."