Part II Nature Conservation, Countryside and National Parks
Countryside
C139 Management agreements with owners and occupiers of land.
1
A relevant authority may, for the purpose of conserving or enhancing the natural beauty or amenity of any land which is F1. . . within their area or promoting its enjoyment by the public, make an agreement (in this section referred to as a “management agreement”) with any person having an interest in the land with respect to the management of the land during a specified term or without limitation of the duration of the agreement.
2
Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a management agreement—
a
may impose on the person having an interest in the land restrictions as respects the method of cultivating the land, its use for agricultural purposes or the exercise of rights over the land and may impose obligations on that person to carry out works or agricultural or forestry operations or do other things on the land;
b
may confer on the relevant authority power to carry out works for the purpose of performing their functions under the 1949 Act and the 1968 Act; and
c
may contain such incidental and consequential provisions (including provisions for the making of payments by either party to the other) as appear to the relevant authority to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the agreement.
3
The provisions of a management agreement with any person interested in the land shall, unless the agreement otherwise provides, be binding on persons deriving title under or from that person and be enforceable by the relevant authority against those persons accordingly.
4
Schedule 2 to the M1Forestry Act 1967 (power for tenant for life and others to enter into forestry dedication covenants) shall apply to management agreements as it applies to forestry dedication covenants.
5
In this section “the relevant authority” means—
F2a
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F3aa
as respects land within the Broads, the Broads Authority;
F4b
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
c
as respects any other land, the local planning authority.
e
as respects any land in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales;
f
as respects land in any area of outstanding natural beauty designated under section 82 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 for which a conservation board has been established under section 86 of that Act, that board.
6
The powers conferred by this section on a relevant authority shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any powers conferred on such an authority by or under any enactment.
X140 Experimental schemes.
For subsections (1) and (2) of section 4 of the 1968 Act (under which the Countryside Commission may submit for the Secretary of State’s approval proposals for experimental schemes in relation to particular areas and are required to carry out proposals approved by him) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
1
The Commission, after consultation with such local authorities and other bodies as appear to the Commission to have an interest, may from time to time make and carry out or promote the carrying out of any experimental scheme designed to facilitate the enjoyment of the countryside, or to conserve or enhance its natural beauty or amenity which—
a
in relation to the countryside generally or to any particular area involves the development or application of new methods, concepts or techniques, or the application or further development of existing methods, concepts or techniques ; and
b
is designed to illustrate the appropriateness of the scheme in question for the countryside generally or for any particular area.
C241 Duties of agriculture Ministers with respect to the countryside.
F7F81
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2
In the exercise of his general duty under section 4(2) of the M2Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 of promoting the interests of agriculture and other rural industries, and without prejudice to the generality of that duty, the Secretary of State shall make provision, through such organisation as he considers appropriate, for the giving of
F9a
advice to persons carrying on agricultural businesses on the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside;
b
advice to such persons on diversification into other enterprises of benefit to the rural economy; and
c
advice to government departments and other bodies exercising statutory functions on the promotion and furtherance of such diversification as is mentioned in paragraph (b).
3
Where an application for F10a farm capital grant is made as respects expenditure incurred or to be incurred for the purposes of activities on land which is in a National Park F11(including a National Park in Scotland)or an area specified for the purposes of this subsection by the Ministers, the appropriate Minister—
a
shall, so far as may be consistent with the purposes of the F12the grant provisions, so exercise his functions thereunder as to further the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside and to promote its enjoyment by the public; and
b
where the relevant authority have objected to the making of the grant on the ground that the activities in question have had or will have an adverse effect on the natural beauty or amenity of the countryside or its enjoyment by the public, shall not make the grant except after considering the objection and, in the case of land in England, after consulting with the Secretary of State;
F13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
Where, in consequence of an objection by the relevant authority, an application for a grant as respects expenditure to be incurred is refused on the ground that the activities in question will have such an effect as is mentioned in subsection (3)(b), the relevant authority shall, within three months of their receiving notice of the appropriate Minister’s decision, offer to enter into, in the terms of a draft submitted to the applicant, a management agreement—
a
imposing restrictions as respects those activities; and
b
providing for the making by them of payments to the applicant.
5
In this section—
F14 “agricultural business” has the same meaning as in section 29 of the Agriculture Act 1970;F14 “the appropriate Minister”, “farm capital grant” and “grant provisions” have the same meanings as in section 32;F15“management agreement” means—- a
in relation to England, an agreement under section 39 or under section 7 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, and - b
in relation to Wales, an agreement under section 39;
- a
“the relevant authority” has the same meaning as in section 39 except that in relation to England it also includes Natural England.
F165A
For the purposes of this section the Broads shall be treated as a National Park F17(and, as respects land within the Broads, any reference in this section to the relevant authority is accordingly a reference to the Broads Authority)..
6
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