Countryside Management Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations revoke and replace the Countryside Management Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (S.R. 2001 No. 43). They supplement certain provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 (O.J. No. L160, 26.06.1999, p. 80) on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations (“the Rural Development Regulation”). They also include provisions to meet the requirements of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 817/2004 (O.J. No. L153, 30.04.2004, p. 30) (“the Commission Regulation”) which lays down detailed rules for the application of the Rural Development Regulation.

These Regulations give effect to part of the rural development plan relating to Northern Ireland submitted by the United Kingdom to the European Commission pursuant to Article 41 of the Rural Development Regulation and which was approved by Commission Decision C(2000) 3638 of 4th December 2000 as amended and approved by Commission Decision C(2005) 952 of 16th March 2005.

The Regulations –

(a) provide for payment of a grant in respect of an undertaking to follow the general environmental conditions set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulations and to carry out the activities set out in Schedule 2 and at least one of the activities set out in Schedule 3 – an undertaking may also include an undertaking to carry out any of the activities in Schedule 4 or 5 (regulation 3);

(b) specify the requirements in relation to applications (regulation 4);

(c) specify restrictions on the acceptance of applications (regulation 5);

(d) make provision for beneficiaries under the Habitat Improvement Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 to substitute for the unexpired period of an undertaking under any of those Regulations, an undertaking to which these Regulations apply (regulation 6);

(e) specify the maximum payment rate in respect of each activity which is the subject of an undertaking (regulation 7);

(f) permit the Department to refuse applications for grant in the event that the financial resources available for grant under the Regulations are insufficient (regulation 8);

(g) specify the conditions which apply where there is a change of occupation of the land to which an undertaking relates (regulation 9);

(h) impose an obligation on applicants to permit entry and inspection (regulation 10);

(i) provide for the withholding and recovery of grant, recovery of interest and the imposition of penalties (regulations 11, 12, 13);

(j) revoke, with a saving, the Countryside Management Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001 (regulation 14).

Good Farming Practice with regard to the Environment referred to in these Regulations is available from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Annex D, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3SB.

The Sites and Monuments Record is accessible at the Environment and Heritage Service: Built Heritage, at 5-33 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LA. The information is also available online at: ads.ahds.ac.uk.