Farm Woodland Premium Scheme 1997
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1997/829 |
| Year | 1997 |
1997 No. 829
AGRICULTURE
The Farm Woodland Premium Scheme 1997
Made 13th March 1997
Coming into force in accordance with paragraph 1
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 1997 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made or 1st April 1997 if later.
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 eligible agricultural activities and includes a business consisting in, or such part of a business as consists in—
(a) permitting another person by licence; or
(b) entitling another person by lease for a term of less than 12 months,
to use the land for eligible agricultural activities where the appropriate Minister is satisfied that the licensor or, as the case may be, the lessor, carries out or is to carry out, whether personally or by a manager, during the term of the licence or the period of 12 months commencing on the date the lease commences, as the case may be, a significant degree of management of that land;
“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 and Wales, the Secretary of State;
“the appropriate nature conservancy council” means—
(i) in relation to land in England, the Nature Conservancy Council for England established by section 128 of the Environmental Protection Act 19904;
(ii) in relation to land in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales established by section 128 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and
(iii) in relation to land in Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage established by section 1 of the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 19915;
“arable land” means eligible land which falls within the definition of “eligible land” in the Arable Area Payments Regulations 19966;
“broadleaved trees” does not include trees which are likely to be harvested within 30 years of planting;
“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;
“Council Regulation 3508/92” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/927establishing an integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid schemes as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 2466/968;
“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 Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NQ;
(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, Environment and Fisheries Department at Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY;
“disadvantaged land” (except in the expression “severely disadvantaged land”) means—
(a) in relation to land situated in England and Wales the land shown coloured blue on the designated maps, and
(b) in relation to land situated in Scotland, land shown coloured blue or coloured pink on the designated maps, and—
(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 restricted (but not severely restricted) in its range by, or by any combination of, soil, relief, aspect or climate;
“eligible agricultural activity” does not include the use of land for the grazing of creatures which are not livestock;
“eligible land”, in relation to an application, means land which has been used for eligible agricultural activities for at least the three years before the date of the application;
“eligible Scots Pine” means native Scots pine planted within any area of Scotland where the presence of native Scots Pine once occurred naturally;
“grazings committee” means a committee appointed under section 47(1) or (3) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 19939and includes a grazings constable appointed under section 47(3) thereof;
“holding” has the meaning it has in Article 1 of Council Regulation 3508/92, save that where—
(a) an applicant—
(i) permits another person by licence, or
(ii) entitles another person by lease for a term of less than twelve months,
to use land for eligible agricultural activities; and
(b) the appropriate Minister is satisfied that the applicant carries out or is to carry out, whether personally or by a manager, during the term of the licence or in the period of 12 months commencing on the date the lease commences, as the case may be, a significant degree of management of that land,
any such land shall be deemed to form part of that applicant’s holding;
“improved land”, in relation to an application, means eligible land (other than arable land) which consists of one of the following—
(a) land which has been grassland for the three years prior to the date of the application and in respect of which the Forestry Commissioners intend to make payment of Better Land Supplement under the Woodland Grant Scheme; or
(b) land which for the three years prior to the date of the application has been used for the growing of any agricultural crop other than grass;
“initial entrant” means a person whose application is approved under paragraph 3(1);
“livestock” has the same meaning, in relation to England and Wales, as it has in section 109(3) of the Agriculture Act 1947, and in relation to Scotland, in section 86 of the Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948;
“nature reserve” means—
(a) land subject to an agreement under section 16 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 194910that it shall be managed as a nature reserve; or
(b) land declared to be a national nature reserve by the appropriate nature conservancy council pursuant to section 35 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 198111;
“nurse tree” means a coniferous tree which is planted to provide protection to tree seedlings and which is removed from the land within 10 years of planting;
“occupier” means—
(a) a person who occupies land—
(i) as freehold owner in England and Wales;
(ii) as proprietor of the dominium utile in Scotland; or
(iii) as lessee; or
(b) in relation to a common grazing, the grazings committee for that common grazing,
and references to “occupies” and “occupation” shall be construed accordingly;
“planting” includes the sowing of tree seeds;
“severely disadvantaged land” means—
(a) in relation to land situated in England and Wales—
(i) the land shown coloured pink on the designated maps; or
(ii) land situated in the Isles of Scilly; and
(b) in relation to land situated in Scotland, land shown coloured pink on the designated maps and—
(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;
“successor” means a person whose application is approved under paragraph 3(2);
“unimproved land” means eligible land other than arable land and improved land;
“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 197912for and in connection with the use and management of land for forestry purposes.
Except in Schedule 3 to this Scheme, any reference in this Scheme to—
a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph in this Scheme so numbered; and
a numbered Schedule (with no corresponding reference to a specific Act) is a reference to the Schedule to...
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