The Countryside Stewardship Regulations 2000

PART IV INTERPRETATION

1.  In this Schedule—

“carr” means an area of marshy ground on which the vegetation is predominantly willow or alder;

“casting up” means pushing soil back into place where an earth bank has collapsed;

“conservation headland” means an area around the outside of a cereal crop that receives no insecticides in the spring or summer and where the use of herbicides is restricted;

“fen” means an area of low-lying marshy ground;

“grassland” means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species;

“heath” means an area of grass, shrubs and trees on acidic sandy soils;

“heather moorland” means upland rough pasture where heather and other dwarf shrubs are present in the sward;

“improved land” means land which has been drained, fertilised, reseeded or otherwise managed to increase its productive capacity;

“land which has been set aside” means land set aside in accordance with the provisions—

(a)

of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1251/1999(1) establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1672/2000(2); and

(b)

of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2316/1999(3) laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1251/1999 other than land used in the production of crops for use in the manufacture of products not primarily intended for human consumption;

“lowland”, in relation to land, means land which is not upland land;

“maiden fruit tree” means a fruit tree not more than 2 years old;

“management plan” means a plan for carrying out any activity (other than the making of a payment) provided for in an agreement;

“meadowland” means land used for the production of hay or silage;

“overwintered stubbles” means the remains of a cereal or linseed crop after harvesting, retained through the winter into the next year;

“pilot area” means any of the areas shown coloured yellow on the maps marked A or B contained in the document entitled “Countryside Stewardship Scheme-Arable Farmland Pilot Areas”, dated 21st May 1998, signed by the Parliamentary Secretary on behalf of the Minister and deposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3HX, together with any other land which—

(a)

by reason of its close proximity is farmed, together with any land situated in any such area, as a single unit of farmland;

(b)

is the smaller part of that unit; and

(c)

in the Minister’s opinion cannot reasonably be treated separately from any land so situated for the purpose of these Regulations;

“reedbeds” means an area of marshy ground on which the vegetation consists primarily of reeds;

“rough pasture” means permanent grassland on which the vegetation is predominantly natural because agricultural improvement is difficult due to terrain or other physical constraints;

“scrape” means a shallow excavation which may hold water seasonally;

“spring cereal crop” means a cereal crop sown in the spring;

“spring crop” means an arable crop sown in the spring;

“spring and summer fallow” means land that is cultivated in the spring and then left without further disturbance or cultivation during the spring or summer;

“standard fruit tree” means a fruit tree other than a maiden fruit tree, with a stem of between 1.6 metres and 2 metres, and no more than 5 years old;

“upland”, in relation to land, means land situated in any area in England specified as a less-favoured farming area by Council Directive (EEC) No. 84/169(4) as amended by Commission Decision (EEC) No. 91/25(5);

“water meadow” means a meadow which is periodically inundated with water through a system of sluices and carriers; and

“wildlife seed mixtures” means the sowing of a mixture of seeds of plant species that will benefit wildlife.

2.  In this Schedule, where a rate of payment expressed by reference to a unit measurement is to be applied in relation to a fraction of that unit, the rate in respect of that fraction shall be calculated as an appropriate proportion of the rate per unit.

(1)

O.J. No. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 1.

(2)

O.J. No. L193, 29.7.2000, p. 13.

(3)

O.J. No. L280, 30.10.1999, p. 43.

(4)

O.J. No. L82, 26.3.84, p. 67.

(5)

O.J. No. L16, 22.1.91, p. 25.