Horse riders 'heartbroken' as Leeds council evicts North Ives Farm stables after 30 years

Emma Richmond runs the livery yard at North Ives Farm, Horsforth, but was given an eviction notice earlier this year after the council, which owns the site, re-tendered the tenancy and rejected her application.

Now the once-thriving stables only has three horses remaining, with locals now begging the Leeds City Council to reverse their decision and allow the site to continue as a livery yard under Emma’s stewardship.

The authority has insisted that the farm was re-let in a competitive process, and that alternative arrangements have been offered for the remaining horses.

Although another farming family owned the tenancy, Emma agreed to continue to run the farm as a livery yard five years ago.

In 2019, the council put out an advertisement for interested parties to bid for the tenancy of the farm.

Until the beginning of this year, the yard was home to 16 horses. But they were informed by the council that they had a new tenant back in March.

Emma said there are now just three horses left, each too old to be moved.

She added: "It is horrendous. It has been going on for three years – and we have been living with this every day. It’s heartbreaking.”

Emma said many of the horses had been seriously upset about having to move.

She said the council offered her a plot of land on Scotland Lane to keep the horses into their retirement, but added that it would have cost her thousands of pounds to bring the site up to scratch.

"I would ideally like the council to reverse her decision,” Emma added. “Everybody wants their horses to come back – they would come back tomorrow if they could."

Isabella O’Halloran, 11, whose pony Sapphire still lives at the stables, said: “Very soon, my stable family will be ripped away from me.

"The livery yard is also a close community.

“The farm manager puts everything into the running of the farm.”

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “The council’s former tenant had entered into a separate agreement with Ms Richmond and sub-let part of the farm building and land to her for the purpose of stabling horses. The council had no involvement in this agreement and Ms Richmond has never leased any part of North Ives Farm from the council.

“A condition of our former tenants lease was that in order to surrender the tenancy they must provide vacant possession of the farm and therefore the tenants family served notice on Ms Richmond to ensure that all horses were rehomed away from the farm in good time.

“In order to re-let the farm, the council progressed a competitive expression of interest process and a preferred bidder has been identified.

“Given the concerns raised by Ms Richmond about the ability to rehouse the remaining horses, the council has discussed with the preferred bidder, the potential for the three horses to remain at North Ives farm for the winter period.

"The offer of a grazing field, on which the horse owners could invest in new stables, subject to planning consent, has been made as a longer term option.”