Farm Woodland Premium Scheme 1992
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1992/905 |
| Year | 1992 |
1992 No. 905
AGRICULTURE
The Farm Woodland Premium Scheme 1992
Made 31th March 1992
Coming into force 1st April 1992
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 2 of the Farm Land and Rural Development Act 19881and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, with the approval of the Treasury, hereby make the following Scheme of which a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament:
Title, commencement and extent
1. This Scheme may be cited as the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme 1992 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.
This Scheme shall apply to Great Britain.
Interpretation
2. In this Scheme unless the context otherwise requires—
“agricultural” shall be construed, in relation to England and Wales, in accordance with section 109(3) of the Agriculture Act 19472and, in relation to Scotland, in accordance with section 86 of the Agriculture (Scotland) Act 19483, except that the expression “agricultural use” shall have the same meaning as in section 2(6) of the Farm Land and Rural Development Act 1988;
“agricultural business” means a business consisting in, or such part of a business as consists in, the pursuit of agricultural activities;
“agricultural unit” means land which is occupied as a unit for agricultural purposes;
“application” means application for grant under this Scheme and “applicant” shall be construed accordingly;
“the appropriate Minister” means, in relation to England, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and in relation to Scotland or Wales, the Secretary of State;
“arable land” means eligible land in arable use in respect of which the Forestry Commissioners have agreed to make payment of Better Land Supplement under the Woodland Grant Scheme;
“common grazing” means a common grazing in Scotland;
“conversion plan” means a plan for the conversion of eligible land to woodlands by planting or natural regeneration;
“converted land” means eligible land converted from agricultural use to use for woodlands in accordance with a conversion plan;
“designated maps” means—
(a) in relation to England, the 3 volumes of maps numbered 1 to 3, each such volume being marked “volume of maps of less-favoured farming areas in England” and with the number of the volume, dated 20th May 1991, signed and sealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR;
(b) in relation to Wales, the 2 volumes of maps numbered 1 and 2, both volumes being marked “volume of maps of less-favoured farming areas in Wales” and with the number of the volume, dated 20th May 1991, signed by the Secretary of State for Wales and deposited at the offices of the Welsh Office Agriculture Department at Trawsgoed, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 4HT;
(c) in relation to Scotland, the 4 maps numbered 1 to 4, each such map being marked “map of less-favoured farming areas in Scotland” and with the number of the map, dated 15th May 1991, signed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and deposited at the offices of the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department at Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TW;
“disadvantaged land” means land—
(a) which is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, inherently suitable for extensive livestock production, but not for the production of crops in quantity materially greater than that necessary to feed such livestock as are capable of being maintained on such land, and
(b) whose agricultural production is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, restricted in its range by, or by any combination of, soil, relief, aspect or climate,
which land is within the area shaded blue on the designated maps;
“eligible land” means land which has been in agricultural use for at least 3 years before the date of an application;
“grazings committee” means a grazings committee appointed under section 24 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 19554;
“grazings constable” means a grazings constable appointed under section 24 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955;
“improved grassland” means eligible land consisting of grassland in respect of which the Forestry Commissioners have agreed to make payment of Better Land Supplement under the Woodland Grant Scheme;
“initial entrant” means a person whose application is approved under paragraph 3(1);
“nature reserve” means—
(a) land subject to an agreement under section 16 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 19495that it shall be managed as a nature reserve; or
(b) land declared to be a national nature reserve by the Nature Conservancy Council pursuant to section 35 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 19816;
“occupier” means a person who occupies land as freehold owner in England or Wales, as proprietor of thedominium utile in Scotland, or as lessee, and in relation to a common grazing means the grazings committee or grazings constable, and references to “occupies” and “occupation” shall be construed accordingly;
“severely disadvantaged land” means land—
a
(i) which is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, inherently suitable for extensive livestock production, but not for the production of crops in quantity materially greater than that necessary to feed such livestock as are capable of being maintained on such land, and
(ii) whose agricultural production is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, severely restricted in its range by, or by any combination of, soil, relief, aspect or climate, or
(b) situated in the Isles of Scilly,
which land is within the area shaded pink on the designated maps;
“successor” means a person whose application is approved under paragraph 3(2);
“unimproved land” means eligible land other than arable land and improved grassland;
“the Woodland Grant Scheme” means the Scheme under which the Forestry Commissioners enter into agreements to make grants pursuant to section 1 of the Forestry Act 19797for and in connection with the use and management of land for forestry purposes.
Any reference in this Scheme to a numbered paragraph or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the paragraph or Schedule bearing that number in this Scheme.
Approval of applications
3. Subject to the provisions of this Scheme, the appropriate Minister may approve an application in relation to any eligible land if the applicant—
has entered into a written agreement with the Forestry Commissioners for the conversion of the land to woodlands under the Woodland Grant Scheme;
submits to the appropriate Minister a conversion plan with respect to the land that is consistent with that agreement, and
occupies the land, and carries on, whether personally or by a manager, an agricultural business on an agricultural unit which includes that land, or
is, where the land comprises a common grazing, the grazings committee or grazings constable for that common grazing.
Subject to the provisions of this Scheme, the appropriate Minister may approve an application in respect of land comprising converted land, or eligible land in relation to which a conversion plan remains to be carried out, if the applicant—
occupies the land in succession to a previous occupier who was, in relation to that land, an initial entrant or a successor;
has submitted the application within 12 months of the termination of occupation of that previous occupier; and
carries on, whether personally or by a manager, an agricultural business on an agricultural unit which includes that land.
An application shall not be taken to be approved unless the appropriate Minister has given approval of it in writing.
Applications for grant
4. Every application shall be made in such form as the appropriate Minister may require.
Restrictions on approval of applications
5. The appropriate Minister shall not approve an application which relates to land which—
is registered as common land pursuant to the Commons Registration Act 19658;
forms part of a nature reserve;
is occupied by a lessee unless the owner of that land has given his consent in writing to the occupier’s application;
is occupied by a grazings committee or grazings constable unless that committee or, as the case may be, constable, pursuant to section 26A of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 19559, has obtained the approval of the Crofters Commission and the consent of the landlord, and that consent has been registered.
For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(c) above, “owner” means, in England or Wales, freehold owner, and in Scotland, proprietor of thedominium utile,and where land is occupied by a sub-tenant, includes a superior tenant.
The appropriate Minister shall not approve an application under paragraph 3(1) which relates to land which, in the opinion of that Minister, has been converted to woodlands or had carried out on it any operations relating to such conversion, whether or not such conversion or operations were carried out in pursuance of a written agreement made with the Forestry Commissioners under the Woodland Grant Scheme.
The appropriate Minister shall not approve an application which relates to land—
which is to be planted with trees as a condition of a felling licence granted by the Forestry Commissioners under section 10 of the Forestry Act 196710;
on which trees have been felled without the authority of a felling licence granted under Part II of the Forestry Act 1967 in circumstances where section 9(1) of that Act applies so as to...
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