A Farmers' Union of Wales delegation's four-day Brussels visit to discuss reform of the Common Agricultural Policy for 2014-2020 had an eventful start today.

The five-strong group is meeting MEPs from across the EU and senior EC and Welsh Government Brussels-based officials in a visit coinciding with crucial CAP discussions by the Council of Ministers and the EU Agriculture Committee.

But during their first meeting at the European Parliament building with UKIP MEP John Stuart Agnew, a member of the EC's agriculture and rural development committee, all staff and visitors were evacuated due to a massive power cut.

"We had a very constructive meeting with Mr Agnew, who is a farmer himself and fully understands the issues we discussed." said FUW president Emyr Jones.

"But it was only after the meeting ended that we realised the building had been evacuated.

"We were among the last few to leave the building.

"Hundreds had already left and we joined them outside on the concourse.

"We hope power will be restored quickly so we can resume our vital talks tomorrow," Mr Jones added.

[caption id="attachment_4485" align="aligncenter" width="500"] MAKING OF A LEGEND: FUW Meirionnydd county officer Huw Jones and Nigel Mansell flanked by brothers Geraint and Dylan Evans.[/caption]

A North Wales farmer has claimed he helped start British motor racing legend Nigel Mansell on the road to becoming a Formula One champion.

Gwynfor Evans, a former Farmers' Union of Wales Meirionnydd county chairman, owns Islawrffordd Caravan Park overlooking Cardigan Bay at Talybont, near Barmouth, which has just celebrated its 55th anniversary.

And Mansell changed an international engagement to attend the celebrations at the park where he has taken regular holidays since he was four years old and has developed a close friendship with Gwynfor who runs it with his sons Dylan and Geraint.

Gwynfor's brother Robert Wyn Evans currently represents Meirionnydd on the FUW's grand council and is also a former county chairman.

Gwynfor believes Islawrffordd may well have contributed to Nigel’s successful racing career.

“He used to race around the fields in a boxcart as a child while on holiday here."

Mansell referred to the wonderful childhood memories of his holidays at Talybont and said Gwynfor used to take him to milk the cows early in the morning.

“Very few people can say that they have been coming to the same place for 55 years and I am so proud of what the Evans family has achieved,” he told guests at the special birthday party.

“What they have done every year is improve the quality of the park.

“I love coming here to relax, play a bit of golf at Harlech on one of the best courses in the country and to take in the wonderful walks and beaches. My family likes the total freedom that caravanning offers.”

The FUW was represented among the 200 guests at the prestigious event which also celebrated the completion of the park's improvements programme and attainment of Visit Wales 5 Star status.

The 25-acre park was originally established as a farm diversification project by Gwynfor Evans in the late 1950s. It now has 75 fully serviced, hard standing pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes, 30 camping plots and 201 caravan holiday homes.

The new developments take the family’’s investment in the park, which now boasts five stars from Visit Wales and five pennants from the AA, to £2.1 million over the last eight years.

Six years ago, Mansell officially opened the park’s reception suite, enhanced swimming pool complex with a jacuzzi, sauna and seating area before the Evans family invested a further £400,000 on a new luxury toilet block.

Such is the demand for holiday homes at Islawrffordd that there is a waiting list to join owners from Shropshire, the West Midlands, Wrexham area, Cheshire and Wirral.

The new fully serviced pitches have also been a huge hit with touring caravan and motorhome owners this summer and the park has received record advance bookings for 2012.

We are already virtually fully booked for Whitsun and the main weeks in July and August are filling up fast,” said John Billingham, Islawrffordd’s business manager. “It has been a very busy summer, around 25 per cent up on last year.

“People like the quality facilities that we offer and they seem to be opting for less expensive breaks in this country instead of spending on a foreign holiday.”

Dylan Evans said the 55th birthday party was an important milestone in the park’’s history and praised his father and grandmother for their vision in diversifying from farming.

A top-level delegation of Farmers' Union of Wales leaders and officers today (Monday September 19) began a four-day stint of talks in Brussels to spell out their concerns and aspirations for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy for 2014-2020.

The five-strong group is meeting MEPs from across the EU and senior EC and Welsh Government Brussels-based officials in a visit coinciding with crucial CAP discussions by the Council of Ministers and the EU Agriculture Committee.

“The decisions made over the coming months at an EU level will have far reaching consequences for the economy, landscape and culture of Wales, not to mention the ability of the EU as a whole to face the looming food shortages that experts predict will hit us sooner rather than later,” said FUW president Emyr Jones, who is leading the delegation.

“Over the coming days we will be highlighting the importance of a strong CAP which supports the family farm where the overwhelming majority of our food is produced.”

A package of proposals for the CAP 2014-2020 has already been circulated to all EC departments as part of an ongoing consultation and these papers have been leaked to the press.

The seven papers within the package are: direct payments, the common organisation of markets, rural development, financing and monitoring of the policy, aids and refunds related to agricultural products, the wine market and direct payments in 2013.

Mr Jones said the FUW had already written to Welsh deputy minister for agriculture, food, fisheries and European programmes Alun Davies highlighting key areas of concern in the leaked EC draft CAP proposals which, when finalised, will lay down the rules for future direct payments to farmers throughout Europe.

"They could have far-reaching consequences for Welsh farmers if left unaltered," said Mr Jones.

"This leaked document is a very early and incomplete draft and the main thrust of our visit to Brussels is to take the opportunity to lobby for changes.

"We intend to highlight to the Welsh Government and Brussels the impact that the proposed regulations would have on Welsh farmers if left unchanged.

“We know from modelling carried out by the union over the past two years that some of the proposals in the draft papers would be disastrous for our rural communities."

FUW members and other Welsh agricultural industry officials will have an opportunity to voice their views about the EC's proposals on Thursday October 20 during a conference organised by the union at Aberystwyth Arts Centre under the theme “Unravelling CAP Reform".

The speakers will be: Tassos Haniotis, Director of Economic Analysis, Perspectives and Evaluations at the EC Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development; George Lyon MEP, former Rapporteur for the EU Agriculture Committee; Jeremy Walker, National Chairman of the Tenant Farmers’ Association and Dr Nick Fenwick, FUW Director of Agricultural Policy.

"The conference will provide an ideal opportunity to hear about developments to date and the possible or likely impact of CAP reform on the agriculture, economy, and landscape of Wales and similar regions," added Mr Jones.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales today called a Welsh Government decision that fences on the Brecon Beacons should be taken down - despite having been in place for 10 years - as irresponsible.

The fences, erected to help control foot and mouth disease (FMD) in 2001, divide parts of the Brecon Beacons, Vaynor and Buckland Commons.

Graziers on the land affected had applied in September 2009 for the fences to remain in place, on the grounds that they continued to be important from a disease control, animal management and environmental perspective, but the Open Spaces Society, the Ramblers and the National Trust objected.

FUW’s common land committee vice chairman Dilwyn John, who recently attended a joint meeting of the three graziers associations affected by the decision, said: “A large number of graziers attended the meeting and they were angry and dismayed by the Welsh Government’s decision.

“Taking down the fences will have a major impact on graziers’ ability to manage their flocks and the environment, and will increase the risk of diseases spreading.

“The government has ignored animal health issues and the needs of those who make a living off this land, and has sided with a tiny minority whose only interests are recreational.

“The general public have access to well over a million acres of land in Wales, yet the Ramblers, Open Spaces Society and National Trust are not satisfied. They want these fences taken down even if it means increasing the threat of animal diseases spreading and many extra long hours of work for the graziers in one of Wales’s harshest environments.”

Mr John added that claims the fences impede access and are visually intrusive were nonsense.

“There are stiles and gates at regular intervals and the fences are barely visible. When you talk to walkers in the area the fences are simply not an issue and their main complaints relate to conifer plantations.

“This is clearly a case of a tiny vocal minority being listened to by a government which has ignored the needs of local businesses. The interests of those who make a living off the land and who now rely on these fences should have been the Assembly Government’s priority.”

Mr John’s views appeared to be confirmed in a recent BBC news report in which the presenter stated that “……without a perilous climb down steep sides, it was difficult for our cameras to see [the fence]……”

“If we have another FMD outbreak as in 2001 - God forbid - new fences will have to be erected, and the government’s decision could lead directly to thousands of animals being slaughtered unnecessarily.

“The strength of feeling is running extremely high, and the graziers are currently seeking legal advice regarding their options. The FUW is committed to fighting for the rights of those who rely on these mountains to make a living.”