The Tir Cynnal (Wales) Regulations 2006

PART 1— WHOLE FARM SECTION

Conditions to be complied with in relation to the whole of the land under agreement. The conditions are as follows:

• FIELD BOUNDARIES

  • Retain all traditional field boundaries (hedgerows, dry stone walls, earth banks with or without stone face, slate fences) and associated features (stone gateposts, stone stiles).

  • Any maintenance work undertaken on traditional boundaries should use traditional materials and methods.

  • Leave at least 25% of hedgerows including any bank hedgerows untrimmed in any one year, with each hedge being left uncut at least one year out of every four (except where highway and/or health and safety requirements preclude this along roadsides).

  • Do not cut hedges between 1 March and 31 August (except where highway and/or health and safety requirements preclude this along roadsides).

• FIELD BOUNDARY BUFFER ZONES

  • Do not cultivate, apply fertilisers, lime, herbicides or other pesticides (unless spot treating injurious weeds or invasive alien species such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Giant Hogweed or Rhododendrons, as more particularly specified in Section 1 of the Weeds Act 1959, and any other weeds subsequently prescribed by regulations under the Weeds Act 1959) within a buffer strip of 1m width from the outside edge of the base of a traditional field boundary (on both sides).

• TREES

  • Retain individual trees. If possible, encourage natural regeneration to replace lost trees, otherwise replant using saplings of local provenance.

  • Do not damage (e.g. by pesticide drift) trees and associated plants and animals

  • Any management should follow the guidelines for bats in trees.

  • Retain dead trees unless they cause a hazard or obstruction

• PUBLIC ACCESS

  • Comply with legal requirements relating to existing public rights of way that are on land, including avoiding obstructing them, and reinstating them after ploughing.

  • Allow access on foot on land identified as available for such access on the maps prepared by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000

• LANDSCAPE AND HISTORIC FEATURES

  • Safeguard archaeological or historic features from damage by stock, vehicles, cultivation or land reclamation. Trees should not be planted nor stones removed.

  • Maintain weatherproof and structurally sound traditional buildings in a state of good repair, using traditional materials.

  • Sound and weatherproof traditional buildings that have been modified using modern materials should be maintained but the modern components may be repaired or replaced with modern materials.

  • Other traditional, sound and well maintained landscape features (e.g. sheepfolds, stone slab bridges) must be maintained.

  • Derelict or remnant historic features and traditional buildings must be retained unless they cause a hazard.

  • Do not disturb protected species that may be using these sites.

  • Use of metal detectors must comply with the Treasure Act 1996.

• ROCK FEATURES AND LANDFORMS

  • Safeguard rock features and geological sites by avoiding physical disturbance. Do not extract rock, scree, sand, shingle, gravel, clay or peat (except from existing quarries for on-farm use) and do not burn vegetation on rocky areas.

  • Maintain a 2m buffer zone around rock features without using cultivation, fertilisers, lime, herbicides or other pesticides, (unless for spot treatment of injurious weeds or invasive alien species).

• RUBBISH

  • Keep the farm clear of rubbish and avoid dumping rubbish such as derelict vehicles and disused domestic appliances, in the fields or curtilage of the farmstead.

• SOIL AND WATER

  • Protect all water features — lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and ditches from damage due to leaching of manure, fertilisers, other chemicals and spray drift from adjacent fields.

  • Do not cultivate or apply fertilisers, off-farm wastes, lime, pesticides or other chemicals to land within 1m of a water feature.

  • Do not apply farm yard manure or slurry within 10m of a water feature.

  • Manage the land in order to avoid excessive poaching of the soil to the extent that it impairs the environment beyond the site itself, through run-off and soil erosion leading to pollution and increased sedimentation of watercourses.

  • Avoid heavy grazing where this results in the removal of vegetation leading to soil erosion.

  • Avoid excessive erosion of the banks of watercourses and pollution of the water by livestock and where necessary control access.

• NON-NATIVE SPECIES

  • Do not introduce any non-native animal or plant species, other than for agricultural production, to the land.

• PROTECTED SPECIES

  • Do not disturb protected species like dormice, bats, water voles, otters and badgers and consult the CCW or Welsh Assembly Government and obtain any necessary licence before undertaking work where protected species are present.

• ANIMAL WELFARE AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION

  • Comply with the relevant Welsh Assembly Codes for the Welfare of Livestock.