Potato farm allowed caravans for seasonal workers

Plans to use static caravans as seasonal housing for Polish workers at a large potato farm have been approved retrospectively.

The caravan permits were granted by North Yorkshire Council for three years to house six temporary workers employed at various times to carry out season-specific tasks at Seamer, near Scarborough.

James Stockdale Ltd said its seasonal workers were "critical" to the business and it was widely acknowledged that finding local people to do the same "relatively low-paid work on a temporary basis" was very difficult.

Potatoes are grown, graded and washed at Star Carr Farm off Spital Road before being transported across the country.

James Stockdale Ltd became a registered company in 1955 and for many years has supplied potatoes to McCain frozen foods to make into chips.

The farm said the six seasonal workers - in addition to its 18 permanent workers - were essential, and would work up to 14 hours a day.

Attempts to find adequate accommodation for them close to the farm had failed, it said.

"These employees are critical to the success of [our] potato planting, growing, grading and washing business," the company continued.

"Without them, and bearing in mind the widely-acknowledged difficulty of attracting local people to undertake relatively low-paid outdoor farming work on a temporary basis, the company's operations would be seriously compromised."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the planning application said the workers were employed for eight to 10 hours a day up to seven days a week at busy times throughout the year.

However, if a customer - such as McCain - requested an "emergency potato delivery in order to maintain factory production" then the farm would operate out-of-hours to grade and/or wash potatoes, it said.

"It is not uncommon for deliveries to be requested by the nearby McCain factory in the middle of the night, such requests being handled by the seasonal, on-site staff."

A similar three-year temporary planning permission was approved in 2023 for the three white caravans, which are of varying styles and measure between 10m (32.8ft) and 12m (39.3 ft) long by 3.5m (11.4ft) wide.

James Stockdale Ltd said the farm had tried over the years to employ local people but attempts had been unsuccessful.

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