1996 No. 1968 (S.164)
The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Western Southern Uplands) Designation (Amendment) Order 1996
Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 18(1), (4) and (11) of the Agriculture Act 19861 and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, with the consent of the Treasury, hereby makes the following Order:
Citation, commencement and interpretation1
1
This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Western Southern Uplands) Designation (Amendment) Order 1996 and shall come into force on 15th August 1996.
2
In this Order–
“the principal Order” means the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Western Southern Uplands) Designation Order 19932.
Amendment of the principal Order
2
In article 2(1) of the principal Order (interpretation)–
a
the definition of “enclosed land” shall be omitted;
b
after the definition of “heather moorland” there shall be inserted–
“herb rich grassland” means land used for grazing or mowing which is not normally treated with mineral fertiliser or lime and does not constitute rough grazing, but which is floristically diverse;
“inbye land” means that part of a farm not comprising the hill and rough grazings, the bulk of which is used for arable and grassland production;
c
for the definition of “wetlands” there shall be substituted the following definition:–
“wetlands” means ground which does not constitute rough grazings and is saturated with water for a significant proportion of the year.
3
In article 6(1) of the principal Order (rates of payment under agreement) for the word “enclosed” there shall be substituted the word “inbye”.
4
In article 7 of the principal Order (payments for additional agricultural operations) for the words “Such payments” to the end there shall be substituted–
Such payments shall be at a rate to be determined by the Secretary of State–
- a
in the case of an agreement entered into on or after 15th August 1996, up to a maximum rate for each 5 year conservation plan of £52,500 for stock reduction and £30,000 for other operations; and
- b
in the case of an agreement entered into before that date–
- i
for the year of the 5 year conservation plan included in such agreement which commenced but which had not ended before that date, up to a maximum rate of £150 per annum for each hectare of land to which the agreement relates, or at the rate of £6,000 per annum per individual farm business, whichever is the lower; and
- ii
for the whole years or remaining whole years of such 5 year conservation plan, up to a maximum rate calculated by multiplying £10,500 for stock reduction and £6,000 for other operations by the number of those whole years or remaining whole years.
5
In the Schedule to the principal Order (requirements to be included in an agreement)–
a
in paragraph 5 the words “undertake to” shall be omitted; and
b
in paragraph 10–
i
for the word “Scheme” there shall be substituted the word “agreement”; and
ii
for sub-paragraph (b) there shall be substituted–
b
if appropriate to the farm unit, contain details of the following farming operations–
i
a grazing plan and other measures necessary to conserve identified areas of heather in their existing condition, to regenerate suppressed areas of heather, or to maintain and enhance other areas of upland vegetation;
ii
a grazing plan and other measures necessary to conserve, enhance or extend areas of native woodland, amenity woodland and scrub on or contiguous with rough grazings and, if the farmer so wishes, limited amenity planting of trees;
iii
if the farmer so wishes, measures to restore dykes, stone buchts, fanks and hedges, to standards consistent with conservation interests;
iv
if the farmer so wishes, measures to improve the condition of features or areas of historic or archaeological interest;
v
if the farmer so wishes, a grazing plan and other measures necessary to conserve, enhance or extend areas of wetlands;
vi
if the farmer so wishes, a grazing plan and other measures necessary to conserve, enhance or extend water margins, the margin of which must be at least 6 metres wide; and
vii
if the farmer so wishes, a grazing plan and other measures necessary to conserve, enhance or extend areas of herb rich grassland.
We consent,
(This note is not part of the Order)