CLA North meeting with Joe Morris in Hexham
Acting Director North Henk Geertsema, along with a small group of members recently met with Joe Morris, Labour Party candidate for the Hexham constituency at Northumberland National Park’s offices in Hexham.Acting Director North Henk Geertsema, along with a small group of members recently met with Joe Morris, Labour Party candidate for the Hexham constituency at Northumberland National Park’s offices in Hexham.
The purpose of the meeting was for CLA members to raise various farming and related concerns on behalf of those living and working in rural areas as well as on government policy matters impacting the rural economy. The meeting also afforded Joe an opportunity to set out his vision for the constituency with a view to the next General Election.
Issues discussed included member frustrations in navigating the planning system, along with the lack of affordable housing; policing in town vs rural areas, along with poor health provision in the countryside; tourism as well as the skills shortage in the area; farming and food production as a ‘public good’, along with challenges facing farmers with the transitioning to SFI.
Joe is a proponent of strengthening the Groceries Code Adjudicator to address unfairness in the supply chain and recognises the additional role landowners play in sequestering carbon and is also keen working with businesses to support growth in the rural economy.
