In Conversation

IN CONVERSATION WITH

SHAUN LEAVEY David Birley

DB What was your childhood like?

SL I never knew my father as he was killed in Normandy in 1944. I grew up in Hampshire with my mother’s parents. I was sent to an old-fashioned prep school, where I was taught Greek which came in useful later in my life. I then went to Clifton College.

DB How did your career evolve?

SL I did an extended short service commission in the army. I served in Germany, Northern Ireland, Aden, South Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. The Middle East tour really was the last days of the British Empire. I resigned in 1967 and stayed on the reservist list for the next ten years, which got me to Cyprus and, briefly, Egypt.

As I had always enjoyed the countryside, I went into agriculture. After a year in Cirencester, I worked on a

farm in Suffolk. The Aberdeen Angus society asked if I would establish a pedigree beef herd in Greece. The job was originally planned for two months, but lasted for two years establishing farms on the mainland and one of the islands. The Greek I had learnt at school was now useful. My boss was Aristotle Onassis’ brother-inlaw and cousin. At times, the job was very frustrating. Greece was ruled by a military junta and the decisions of the family could be somewhat mercurial.

Back in the UK and interested in agriculture and politics, I applied for a job with the National Farmers Union, and ended up as regional director covering Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.

NFU work involved lobbying MPs and MEPs about farming issues. But it also involved me dealing with problems confronting individual NFU members varying from those with small farms up to the major landowners – each as important as the other. I had also to convince them that their annual membership fee should be paid. That was a test of one’s salesmanship and taught me the crucial importance of face to face contact.

On retirement, I wanted to do something unrelated to agriculture and joined the Independent Monitoring Board of HMPS Haslar – an immigration removal centre. This was often distressing but sometimes rewarding. One dealt with failed asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. It is a world most people know little about. For two of the eight years, I chaired the board.

I was asked to chair DEFRA’s Sustainable Farming and Food Board for the South East, which had been set up by David Miliband. I often disagreed with officials seeking to base policy on ‘food security’ – a myth that one can get most of the UK’s food from other countries – rather than what I favoured then and now which is ‘food self-sufficiency’ meaning home grown. I was also chairman of the Farming and Rural Issues Group, which managed land-based projects funded by the South East of England Development Agency.

DB What brought you to Sherborne?

SL I had known Sherborne for a long time and always found it a delightful town. We wanted somewhere with a mainline station and a town from which we could walk into the countryside.

DB What are you currently involved in?

SL I am the farming adviser to Dorset CPRE (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England) in which role I try to improve understanding of the key role that farming plays in the landscape of the county. I also drafted the Sherborne Critical Review about missed opportunities and risks to our built heritage in the town.

I am currently working on ways to mitigate the worst effects of the Dorset County plan for the town and the surrounding countryside. Large-scale development needs to have infrastructure for the new community without which it just becomes a vast characterless suburban conurbation. The way in which such a project is landscaped is absolutely crucial. Residential development right up to farmland does not normally work. You need to have some way of softening the impact. Also, we need green spaces and tree planting to help achieve carbon neutrality and to enhance the quality of life for residents. All too often contemporary planning neglects this. Property developers want as many houses as possible and the CPRE has a real battle on its hands to get appropriate landscaping.

I would like to see an enlightened policy for future development which is not totally dominated by the developer’s bottom line.

I am also involved in the Dorset Historic Churches Trust. Our small country churches are absolute jewels of our heritage and I enjoy helping them with grant applications.

DB What changes have you seen?

SL The changes in farming are mainly due to the imperative that has been imposed on farmers to achieve economies of scale. Pressure on farming by the multiple retailers squeezed farmers’ profitability – particularly in the fruit, vegetables, and dairy sectors. One of the delights of living in Dorset is that there are still quite a lot of fairly small livestock farms. They need support, but must have an awareness of the importance of conservation and helping to fight climate change.

DB What do you do in your down time?

SL Amongst other things, I enjoy travel, horse racing and am an inveterate collector of second hand books. I am also a Guardian of Sherborne Abbey.

DB Do you have a personal wish?

SL To see more of our grandchildren.

DB Do you have a wish for Sherborne?

SL Whatever regeneration project takes place for the town, I would like to see more green spaces within the town boundaries and far better management of the urban fringe – that is the interface of new residential development and commercial farmland.