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Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Blackdown Hills) Designation Order 1994

As Enacted Cited authorities 13 Cited in Related
Vincent
Year1994

1994 No. 707

AGRICULTURE

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Blackdown Hills) Designation Order 1994

Made 3rd March 1994

Laid before Parliament 16th March 1994

Coming into force 6th April 1994

Whereas, as mentioned in section 18(1) of the Agriculture Act 19861, it appears to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (“the Minister”) that it is particularly desirable—

to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area referred to in article 3 of the following Order;

to conserve the flora and fauna and geological and physiographical features of that area; and

to protect buildings and other objects of historic interest in that area;

And whereas, as mentioned in the said section 18(1), it appears to the Minister that the maintenance or adoption of the agricultural methods specified in Schedule 1 to the following Order is likely to facilitate the aforementioned conservation, enhancement and protection;

Now, therefore, the Minister, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by section 18(1) and (4) of the said Act, and of all other powers enabling her in that behalf, with the consent of the Treasury and after consultation with the Secretary of State, the Countryside Commission and the Nature Conservancy Council for England2as to the inclusion of the area referred to in article 3 of the following Order and the features of that area for which conservation, enhancement and protection are desirable, hereby makes the following Order:

Title and commencement
S-1 Title and commencement

Title and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Blackdown Hills) Designation Order 1994 and shall come into force on 6th April 1994.

Interpretation
S-2 Interpretation

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order—

“access route” means a strip of land 10 metres wide which is the subject of an agreement including the requirements specified in Schedule 2 as to public access;

“agreement” means an agreement under section 18(3) of the Agriculture Act 1986 as respects agricultural land in the area designated by article 3;

“conservation plan” means a plan for the carrying out of one or more of the operations specified in Schedule 6 which the farmer undertakes, as part of an agreement, to implement within a period of two years;

“farmer” means a person who has an interest in agricultural land in the area designated by article 3 and who has entered into an agreement with the Minister;

“grassland” means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species;

“hay meadow” means land used for the production of hay;

“improved permanent grassland” means permanent grassland which is receiving inputs of inorganic fertiliser exceeding 75 kg of nitrogen, 37.5 kg of phosphate and 37.5 kg of potash per hectare per year or inputs of organic fertiliser exceeding 25 tonnes per hectare per year;

“low-input permanent grassland” means grassland which has not been ploughed or reseeded for at least five years and which is receiving inputs of inorganic fertiliser not exceeding 75 kg of nitrogen, 37.5 kg of phosphate and 37.5 of potash per hectare per year or inputs of organic fertiliser not exceeding 25 tonnes per hectare per year;

“managed woodland” means an area of at least one hectare of woodland for which, within two years of the start of the agreement, the farmer or the woodland owner obtains approval for a grant in connection with the management of the land for forestry purposes under section 1 of the Forestry Act 19793;

“permanent grassland” means grassland which has not been ploughed or reseeded for at least five years;

“recognised dairy breed” means one of the following breeds, namely, Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey and Kerry;

“rough land” means heathland and wetland (including mires);

“unimproved pasture” means pasture which is receiving no or only minimal inputs of fertiliser;

“wetland” means land which is subject to regular flooding or which is waterlogged for the greater part of the year;

“woodland” means land used for woodland where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes.

(2) Any reference in this Order to a numbered article or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the article or Schedule bearing that number in this Order.

Designation of environmentally sensitive area
S-3 Designation of environmentally sensitive area

Designation of environmentally sensitive area

3. There is hereby designated as an environmentally sensitive area the area of land in the Blackdown Hills in the Counties of Devon and Somerset which is shown coloured yellow on the maps contained in the volume of maps marked “volume of maps of the Blackdown Hills environmentally sensitive area” dated 3rd March 1994, signed and sealed by the Minister and deposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.

Requirements included in an agreement

Requirements included in an agreement

S-4 An agreement shall include the requirements specified in...

4. An agreement shall include the requirements specified in Schedule 1 as to agricultural practices, methods and operations and the installation and use of equipment.

S-5 An agreement may also include the requirements as to public...

5. An agreement may also include the requirements as to public access specified in Schedule 2 to this Order.

Breach of requirements
S-6 Breach of requirements

Breach of requirements

6. An agreement shall include provisions that—

(a) in the event of a breach by the farmer of the requirements referred to in article 4 which are included in the agreement, the Minister may give the farmer notice in writing terminating the agreement forthwith and may recover from the farmer as a debt an amount equivalent to the payments made by the Minister under the agreement or such part thereof as the Minister may specify;

(b) any question arising under the agreement as to whether there has been a breach of any of the requirements referred to in article 4 shall be referred to and determined by a single arbitrator to be agreed between the parties or in default of agreement to be appointed by the President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act 19504or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in force.

Rates of payment under agreement
S-7 Rates of payment under agreement

Rates of payment under agreement

7.—(1) The Minister shall make payments under an agreement for land to which the agreement relates at the following rates—

(a)

(a) £12 per annum for each hectare of land other than improved permanent grassland, low-input permanent grassland, unimproved pasture, rough land or woodland;

(b)

(b) £25 per annum for each hectare of improved permanent grassland;

(c)

(c) £40 per annum for each hectare of low-input permanent grassland;

(d)

(d) £50 per annum for each hectare of unimproved pasture and rough land,

unless a higher rate is applicable in accordance with paragraph (3) below.

(2) Where an agreement includes the requirements as to public access specified in Schedule 2 the Minister shall make payments at the rate of £170 per annum for each hectare of access route.

(3) Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 3 in relation to any land, the Minister shall make payments at the rate of £180 per annum for each hectare of that land.

(4) Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 4 in relation to any managed woodland, the Minister shall make payments at a rate of £25 per annum for each hectare of that managed woodland.

(5) Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 5, the Minister shall make payments at the rate of £3 for each 10 metres of stockproof hedges per hectare, subject to a maximum of 50 metres of stockproof hedges per hectare, and to a maximum number of hectares corresponding to the area of land subject to the provisions of Schedule 1 (less any rough land) which contains or is enclosed or partially enclosed by such hedges.

(6) Where an agreement includes a conservation plan, the Minister shall also make payments in respect of the aggregate of the operations included in the plan at a rate not exceeding £75 per annum for each hectare of land to which the agreement relates, subject to a maximum of £3,000 for each plan.

Gillian Shephard

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

3rd March 1994.

Timothy Wood

Nicholas Baker

Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury

3rd March 1994

SCHEDULE 1

Articles 4 and 7(1)

REQUIREMENTS TO BE INCLUDED IN AN AGREEMENT

SCH-1.1

1. As regards all land which is the subject of an agreement—

(1) the farmer shall not use the land (including ley grassland which has been established for less than 5 years) for the growing of arable crops apart from land in such use on 31st December 1993;

(2) the farmer shall not increase existing application rates of organic or inorganic fertiliser. He shall not apply organic fertiliser within 50 metres of any spring, well or borehole that supplies water for human consumption or within 10 metres of any watercourse;

(3) the farmer shall not remove any hedges, walls or hedgebanks or any part thereof and shall not plough or apply pesticides or fertiliser on land within 1 metre of any hedge, wall or hedgebank;

(4) the farmer shall maintain stockproof hedges, walls and hedgebanks in a stockproof condition using traditional...

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