14. In Part 2 of the schedule (standards for good agricultural and environmental condition)—
(a)in paragraph 1 (establishment of buffer strips along water courses)—
(i)in sub-paragraph (2) after “within” insert “, or on any land in a manner which will likely result in organic manure being located within,”; and
(ii)after sub-paragraph (7)(1), insert—
“(8) In this paragraph, “field heap” means a store or stack of organic manure which is a freestanding heap which does not slump or produce free draining liquid from within the stacked material.”;
(b)in paragraph 5(1) (minimum land management reflecting site specific conditions to limit erosion) for “prevent” substitute “limit”; and
(c)in paragraph 7 (retention of landscape features)—
(i)for sub-paragraph (2) substitute—
“(2) A beneficiary must not trim a hedge or cut a tree during the period beginning on 1st March and ending on 31st August in any calendar year (“the prohibited period”), except in accordance with sub-paragraph (3A) or (3B).”;
(ii)for sub-paragraph (3) substitute—
“(3) Written consent under sub-paragraph (1) is not required—
(a)to widen field entrances to enable access for livestock or farm machinery; or
(b)where the hedge (or part of a hedge) or tree is—
(i)dead;
(ii)damaged; or
(iii)insecurely rooted,
and because of its condition it poses a risk to human safety.”;
(iii)after sub-paragraph (3) insert—
“(3A) Trimming a hedge or cutting a tree is permitted during the prohibited period—
(a)for the purposes of hedgelaying up to and including 31st March; or
(b)to the extent necessary for the purposes of road safety.
(3B) Trimming a hedge or cutting a tree during the month of August in any calendar year is permitted if—
(a)the hedge or tree is in a field which during that month has been sown with—
(i)a crop of oilseed rape; or
(ii)temporary grass; or
(b)the hedge or tree is in a field which during that month has been sown with any other crop and the Scottish Ministers have given the beneficiary written permission to trim the hedge or cut the tree.”; and
(iv)in sub-paragraph (7)—
(aa)omit “and” at the end of head (b)(ii); and
(bb)for head (c) substitute—
“(c)“hedgelaying” means a traditional method of cultivating hedges where tall saplings are partly cut through near the base and then bent over so that they lie horizontally and make a thick barrier; and
(d)“necessary for the purposes of road safety” includes where a tree or hedge—
(i)overhangs a road, surfaced track or footpath to which the public have access so as to endanger or obstruct the passage of vehicles, pedestrians or horse-riders; or
(ii)obstructs or interferes with the view of drivers of vehicles or the light from a public lamp.”.
Sub-paragraph (7) was inserted by S.S.I. 2015/215.