Restoring confidence in open farms to educate our children

IT is typical wintry weekday - overcast, drizzly and cold - but there are still a handful of hardy families who have made the trip to Godstone Farm.

The popular farm attraction in Surrey is visited by tens of thousands of people every year as families, schools and playgroups come in their droves to see the llamas, cows, sheep, rabbits, goats and everything in between.

They learn about how and where food is produced and are taught about the connection between food, farming and the environment.

Children visiting Godstone today cannot pet or touch the animals, however, and they haven’t been able to since last September when the farm was struck down by a devastating outbreak of E.coli 0157.

In total 93 cases of E.coli 0157 were linked to the Godstone outbreak and 12 children were hospitalised - although all have since been released.

But as investigations continue into the outbreak visitors are still separated from the animals and confined to pedalling tractors around the play areas, working tirelessly in the sandpits or negotiating climbing frames.

“I was absolutely devastated when the children became ill,” says Godstone farm manager Richard Oatway, clearly still rocked by the outbreak.

“Our job is to show the children where their food comes from. They love to listen to the animal noises and find out what they smell like. They get an appreciation for the size of the animals too and many of the children love to know what the animals feel like,” he says.

“So it was a low moment when that all stopped.”

Godstone’s livestock section will remain closed until the Health Protection Agency (HPA) says it is safe to recommence contact with the animals.

“We understand why the animal section is closed, but it is frustrating. We have always followed all the health and safety guidelines, we are ultra cautious and we have never failed an inspection. We have more washing facilities than a hospital and there are signs and basins everywhere,” says Richard.

Despite accusing fingers from various quarters, Richard clearly believes there was nothing he could have done to prevent the E.coli outbreak on his farm - short of never allowing children to touch animals.

“When you have over a thousand visitors in a day, it is simply impossible to be 100 per cent sure all children have washed their hands.

“Of course there are risks coming on to a farm, but no more than crossing a road or going to a beach, and we do all that we can to mitigate those risks.

“I was devastated when the children became ill, but unless we stop children visiting farms, there will always be that small risk.”

E.coli on open farms

E.coli is not new to British farms - there have been sporadic cases on open farms for decades, but Godstone was the biggest and most high profile outbreak.

Since the Godstone outbreak there have been a number of unrelated, random cases of infection at other open farms in Devon, North Yorkshire, and Nottinghamshire, and each outbreak has resulted in the voluntary closure of part, or all, of the visitor farm attractions.

After the outbreak at Godstone, Richard’s visitor numbers dipped dramatically and he will not know whether he has recovered public confidence until the traditionally busy warmer months return.

But it was not just Godstone that suffered. The E.coli outbreak was national news and farm attractions across the country, particularly in the south, suffered from falling gate receipts.

As with any such shock, the industry’s primary aim is now to reassure the public that farm attractions are safe and well managed.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has embarked on a national inventory of all farm attractions to make sure they practice the appropriate health and safety measures.

Meanwhile, Health Protection Agency chief executive, Justin McCracken, set up the ongoing Griffin investigation to make recommendations on reducing the risk of those visiting open farms from contracting E. coli O157.

A key part of the investigation will look into why the HPA waited eight days to close Godstone Farm when it knew children had contracted E.coli - a source of huge controversy at the time.

Mr McCracken said the crucial time delay could have made the outbreak worse. It was ‘unfortunate’, he said at the time before promising to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in the investigation.

Focus on guidelines

Industry attention has turned to AIS23 - the health and safety guidance sheet farmers must follow if they run open farms.

Several questions have been raised about AIS23. The first, is it still fit for purpose?

The AIS23 guidelines were drawn up by Bernardine Cooney from the HSE, and she is unequivocal - ‘AIS23 is fit for purpose’.

“It cannot be more rigid because that would be unworkable. It sets out guidelines for open farms of all sizes and it does that well,” she says, a point to which Barry Davies from the National Farm Attraction Network (NFAN) agrees.

The controversy is more over the second and third questions; who should enforce AIS23, and how?

Responsibility for enforcing AIS23 is shared between the HSE and local authorities’ environmental health officers. Local authorities take responsibility where an open farm is more of an ‘entertainment’ attraction and the HSE takes responsibility where an open farm is more of an ‘agricultural’ attraction.

The overwhelming feedback from farm attractions is one of confusion, where they find it difficult to understand where HSE control is handed to local authorities and vice-versa.

They say the rules are interpreted differently between agencies and from farm to farm.

However, the HSE and local authorities contend there is a clear demarcation where HSE control stops and where the local authorities take over. Bernardine, from the HSE, says every open farm operator will know who enforces their rules.

Mark Duval from LACORS, the local government body responsible for overseeing the regulation, adds that inconsistencies over AIS23 are rare.

“There may be a minority of inconsistencies, but I am not aware of any. If there are genuine differences, then there are routes of dialogue for farm operators with their regulators. There are mechanisms to connect directly with us and the HSE. We want open dialogue,” he says.

Barry Davies agrees communication may be the crucial missing link. “AIS23 may be the appropriate document but we need more open, regular and collaborative communication between open farms, the HPA, HSE and local authorities on a regional and national basis to cut out inconsistencies,” he says.

Moving forward

There are about 1,000 farms attractions, like Godstone, across Britain and collectively they receive over two million visitors per year.

Apart from the educational value, the farm attraction business is also a significant part of the rural economy, pulling in an impressive £12 million a year.

Their role in the community is huge and Richard, from Godstone, urges policy-makers and the outbreak investigators to maintain a framework to enable them to continue to thrive.

“We need consistent and fair rules which are communicated well and proportionate to risk.

“We must not let the precautionary culture stop children from experiencing this important education - you would be amazed at the number of children who don’t know that an egg comes from a chicken or that a cow needs to have a calf to give milk - we just need to be sensible,” he pleads.

Industry experts agree it would be a disaster if the E.coli outbreak affected the relationship between farming and the public, particularly as the increased dialogue between farmers and consumers continues to grow apace.

“We need to do everything we can to ensure the safety of children, but we must not tell them to stay away from farms,” concludes Richard.

Have your say

Please do not complete the following form field for security reasons.

Name

E-mail

Comment

Post as

Anonymously

Display name