A farmer with a passion for sustainable agriculture and living off the land is packing up shop at his field in Devonshire after being served notice to vacate the government-owned plot two years into a five-year lease.

Malachi Symonds said he was too “demoralised” to continue after the dispute boiled on for close to a year over structures, such as a chicken coop, that the Department of Planning maintains were erected without permission.

Mr Symonds insists that the coop and sales area are modest, non-permanent structures that did not warrant a permit.

“My dream was to have a chicken coop at the back and a sales area like a little barn, all made of wood, nothing concrete, with wood chips on the ground,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“It would be like going back in time to the old days, and I could invite other new businesses to come and sell at the stall. The idea is to promote Bermuda business, healthy living, healthy foods.”

The Ministry of Public Works said that issuing Mr Symonds the notice to quit by the end of next month was made reluctantly.

“It is important to clarify that the decision to revoke Mr Symonds’s lease was not taken lightly and was done in accordance with established rules and regulations,” a spokesman said.

The ministry said it supported those seeking to use government-owned land for agriculture.

“We believe in fostering a co-operative environment that enables farmers to thrive and contribute to the agricultural sector's growth.

“Over the last two years, a tremendous effort has been made to ensure that all arable land owned by government was leased to farmers or in some cases created community gardens.”

Mr Symonds said the property, opposite the Devonshire post office, was just weeds and brush when he got his lease in late 2021 and started clearing it out.

He found the south edge of the field, along the retaining wall below Middle Road, littered with trash, broken bottles and engine parts, which he cleared.

Unaware that the narrow boundary strip was not covered under his lease, Mr Symonds said he was gratified when the Ministry of Public Works offered to include the boundary under the agreement.

“They came here, we talked, and they said they would extend it,” he said.

“Really, it’s been about the Department of Planning that’s been onto me about the chicken coop, saying I need to take it down.”

Aside from producing eggs, the chickens, which eat vegetable waste, provide the manure needed to enrich the soil for crops.

Mr Symonds’s group, Just a Farmer, is aimed at promoting sustainability and natural farming, down to the use of neem oil for non-chemical pesticide.

However, he said he was unprepared for the red tape.

“I told planning the chicken coop was not permanent. They came back and said it’s up more than six months, you need planning permission. That’s the law.

“I didn’t think that producing food and trying to positively impact your community would be so much hassle.”

Mr Symonds said an earlier business, Paddled Popped Corn, launched in 2014, had been easy in comparison.

“I have been so busy trying to please the powers that be that I have not been able to focus.”

He planned to sell off his produce and then, he said, he would “have to start moving”.

Mr Symonds highlighted the impasse in a post on Facebook, calling on the community to raise the issue of farming on government-owned land with their MPs.

He told the Gazette: “At the end of the day, it’s the public’s voice that matters.”

Diallo Rabain, the education minister as well as the area MP, wrote under the post that he had raised the matter with the Ministry of Public Works.

When contacted by the Gazette, Mr Rabain said he preferred to speak with Mr Symonds.

The Ministry of Public Works responded: “Mr Symonds erected structures on the property without obtaining the necessary planning approvals or seeking the consent of the ministry, which serves as the landlord for the farm.

“This action violated the terms and conditions of his lease agreement. Despite repeated advisories from the ministry, Mr Symonds refused to remove the structures over an entire year.

“In 2022, the Department of Planning issued a stop notice to address the unauthorised structures that Mr Symonds had erected, including chicken coops and sheds.

“Both the ministry and the Department of Planning expressed a willingness to collaborate with him, provided he submitted a retroactive planning application to rectify the situation.

“Mr Symonds was duly informed of the requirement in May 2022 and was granted an additional six months to apply.

“Regrettably, he refused to follow through with the necessary submission or provide the requested documentation to the planning department.

“Consequently, he was notified that his lease would be terminated effective November 30, 2023, in accordance with the provisions of his lease agreement.”

The ministry said it supported farmers, but “they still have to comply with statutory regulations”.

Mr Symonds said he was still contemplating seeking retroactive approval, but was frustrated by what he considered excessive bureaucracy.

He pointed to areas where the next round of crops should be growing.

“I have not planted out of fear I may lose the property,” he said. “All this should have been filled by now.”