Back Wiltshire’s Farmers: Support Rural Resilience in Our County

Wiltshire’s farmers, growers and food producers are central to our county’s economy, countryside, food security and rural way of life.

They face growing pressures from drought, volatile weather, rising costs and uncertainty around water availability. These challenges affect not only individual farm businesses, but also rural jobs, local food production, wildlife, communities and the long-term resilience of Wiltshire’s landscape.

The Wiltshire Council, proposed by Cllr Nabil Najjar and seconded by Cllr Richard Clewer, is calling for practical action to strengthen rural resilience. The motion asks the Council to work with farmers, rural businesses, water companies, environmental organisations, education providers and government to support measures including:

• Better drought preparedness and agricultural water resilience
• Support for soil health, efficient water use and sustainable on-farm storage
• Planning processes that enable appropriate farm-resilience and diversification projects
• Stronger opportunities for Wiltshire producers through local procurement
• Skills, training and business support for the next generation of rural enterprise
• A clear countywide Rural Drought Resilience Action Plan

The motion states that: “Wiltshire should be a leading rural authority in supporting a productive, profitable and environmentally resilient farming sector.”

We, the undersigned, call on Wiltshire Council to support this motion and take practical steps to enhance rural resilience in our county.