The Countryside Premium Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1997

Regulation 2

SCHEDULE 5 INTERPRETATION OF SCHEDULES

In Schedules 1 to 4–

“agricultural land” means land used for agriculture and includes land which is set-aside land or is a habitat site as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Habitats (Scotland) Regulations 1994;

“amenity woodland” means small-scale woodland planted and maintained primarily for improvement of the landscape;

“beetlebank” means a grass sward created in the margin of arable fields, or strips through fields taken out of arable production in order to allow insects to over-winter;

“coastal heath” means land bordering the sea containing moorland or species-rich grassland affected by salt spray and exposure;

“conservation audit” means a report of the survey of a farm to identify the extent and location of habitats and features of conservation interest and the opportunities for enhancement;

“conservation headland” means a strip of land at least 6 metres wide which borders an arable field and which is left untreated by herbicide or insecticide applications to allow the natural development of varied flora;

“cropped machair” means sandy plains formed when calcareous shell-sand has been blown over glacial deposits and peat and which has been subject to cultivation within the last 10 years;

“designed landscape” means garden or a landscape, including parkland policy grassland, which is included in a record, recognised by the Secretary of State, of existing historic gardens and designed landscapes;

“ewe” means a female sheep which is at least one year old on the 1st of January preceding the date of the application for grant;

“extensive cropping” means a specified arable rotation system without the use of pesticides (except to control statutory weeds) and restricted use of fertilisers in order to promote habitats for birds, in particular to allow nesting to be completed;

“extended hedge creation” means management of new or existing hedges by fencing off a strip 3 metres from the centre line of the hedge and taking the necessary land out of agricultural production in order to provide more diverse flora and an improved habitat for invertebrates, birds and small mammals;

“floodplains” means eligible land adjacent to a watercourse which is subject to periodic flooding in times of high precipitation;

“heather moorland” means areas of land in which heather (calluna vulgaris) or other dwarf shrubs including bell heather (erica cinera), cross-leaved heath (erica tetralix), crowberry (empetrum nigrum), blaeberry (vaccinium myrtillus) or bog myrtle (myrica gale), occur throughout the vegetation;

“hedge” means a line of shrubs or trees which delineate field boundaries;

“improved grassland” means either land used for grazing where over one third of the sward comprises, singly or in mixture, ryegrass, cocksfoot or timothy, or land that has been improved by management practices such as liming and top dressing, where there is not a significant presence of sensitive plant species indicative of native unimproved grassland;

“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;

“Less Favoured Area” means land which is disadvantaged land or severely disadvantaged land as defined in the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1996(1);

“machair” means sandy plains formed when calcareous shell-sand has been blown over glacial deposits and peat but does not include cropped machair;

“moorland” means land with predominantly semi-natural upland vegetation or comprising predominantly rock outcrops and semi-natural upland vegetation used primarily for rough grazing;

“muirburn” has the same meaning as in section 39(1)(f) of the Hill Farming Act 1946(2);

“native woodland” means self-seeded woodland of native species or woodland derived from an originally naturally occurring woodland;

“over-grazing” means grazing land with livestock in such numbers as adversely to affect the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation on that land to a significant degree;

“parkland policy grassland” means permanent pasture forming part of a designed landscape including individual or groups of amenity trees;

“pesticides” means herbicides, insecticides or fungicides;

“poaching” means the trampling or treading of the ground surface by livestock resulting in permanent damage to the vegetation;

“reverted improved grassland” means land, previously improved by agricultural management operations which, from an agricultural viewpoint, has degenerated and is now showing significant presence of plant species indicative of unimproved grassland;

“rough grazings” means land containing semi-natural vegetation including heathland, heather moorland, bog and rough grassland used or suitable for use as grazing;

“scrub” means low growing woody vegetation of small trees and shrubs including linear scrub along field margins;

“semi-natural woodland” means native woodland which has been modified by human activity;

“species-rich grassland” means inbye 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;

“statutory weeds” means spear thistle (cirsium vulgare), creeping or field thistle (cirsium arvense), curled dock (rumex crispus), broad-leaved dock (rumex obtusifolius) and ragwort (senecio jacobaea);

“unimproved grassland” means inbye land used for grazing or mowing which is not normally treated with mineral fertiliser or lime and does not constitute rough grazing;

“vernacular buildings” means traditional, agricultural buildings which are not in use or intended for use as dwellinghouses or for permanent or temporary accommodation.

“water margin” means an area of inbye land bordering an area of still or flowing water;

“wetland” means inbye ground which is normally saturated with water for a significant proportion of the year;

(1)

S.I. 1996/1500 as amended by S.I. 1997/33.

(2)

1946 c. 73.