Cumbria Rural Small Building Grants Case Study: Walby Farm Park

Background to business and property

Neil Milbourn’s family have farmed at Walby Grange near Carlisle for 80 years and have the remains of a section of Hadrian’s Wall running through their land. Three years ago, Neil and his wife, Katie, decided to sell the dairy herd, diversify the farming business and convert three large redundant buildings into a farm visitor attraction.

“We reached a stage where we had to decide how to invest for the future, either putting money into a bigger, more modern dairy or diversifying in some way. The idea of the Farm Park was to create a fun place for people to visit that would also show them something about farms and farming – a combination of play and learn.”

Neil Milbourn

Contact with CREA

Neil and Katie Milbourn researched their concept of a Farm Park by visiting over 30 similar attractions across the UK , developing their ideas, learning from experiences elsewhere and working out their priorities. Early in the process, they realised that a gradual development was not a feasible option; they needed to make a big investment so that the attraction met (and exceeded) visitors' expectations from the start.

“We needed to create the ‘wow' factor so that early word of mouth gave us extra publicity and return visits. But that meant we were looking at investing more than £400k which was daunting, to say the least. It was Mark Robinson at Armstrong Watson, our farm management consultant, who put us in touch with the CREA Rural Small Buildings Grant scheme.” Katie Milbourn

Once planning permission was granted in November 2007, CREA committed to one of its largest Rural Small Buildings Scheme Grants (£65k) as a contribution towards the costs of converting the three barns. Additional project costs have included the creation of a link between two of the original buildings as well as the significant equipment costs for the café, shop and play barn.

Impact of the RSB Grant

The RSB Grant contributed to the conversion of three redundant farm buildings

• Barn 1 into a livestock area to house a range of traditional farm animals and to incorporate a demonstration area for livestock handling

• Barn 2 into the main service area with a kitchen and café, classroom, party area, shop, reception and toilets

• Barn 3 into a large indoor play area with a range of equipment appealing to children from 1 to 14 years of age.

A mezzanine floor was put into Barn 2 to create a lower ceiling for the service area, more efficient heating and, in the longer term, a large area on the upper floor that could have several uses. Barns 2 and 3 also needed to be connected at full height. This link was a major part of the construction project although less than 15% of the total building costs.

“The Grant was a significant contribution to the overall costs but the support from CREA was a boost to our confidence as well. It reassured us that there were people who thought we were doing the right thing in spite of the risks. The scale of the project really hit me one day in June 2008 when we had about 50 people on site at once!”

Neil Milbourn

Walby Farm Park has created approximately 13 FTE jobs for local people including a catering manager and an animal specialist. There can be as many as 20 staff on the premises at the busiest times including part-time workers and student placements.

“The staff team has been brilliant ever since we opened in July 2008. They have been flexible on the tasks that need to be done and enthusiastic for each new development – it has made my job a lot easier having such a great bunch to work with.” Neil Milbourn

The development created work for several local companies, including Cubby Construction Limited, I J & G Prudham at Brampton and surveyors, Edwin Thompson. Local suppliers now include Pioneer Food Service, r//evolution design at Hexham for marketing communications and even Simply Eco at Hornsby who provide the complimentary nappies and wipes in the family loos.

Next steps

After such a big initial investment and development, Walby Farm Park is already exceeding its business targets with over 20 000 visitors over the summer – helped by the wet weather but still a tremendous achievement.

Plans for the future include creating a link to Hadrian’s Wall and Roman history and expanding the indoor play area but the next priority is the development of the educational element of Walby Farm Park.

Neil is accredited under CEVAS, the Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme and the Farm Park has already hosted a number of schools visits. Neil is keen to develop this side in partnership with teachers, offering them facilities and opportunities that support the curriculum and inspire children to learn more about farming and the countryside.

“Creating the Farm Park has been a huge challenge – especially developing and running it in parallel with the continuing farm operations. I am really proud to see it getting established and already attracting return visits.” Neil Milbourn

Walby Farm Park 01228 573056 www.walbyfarmpark.co.uk