Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 1306

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Breckland) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998

(The document as of February, 2008)

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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

1998 No. 1306

AGRICULTURE

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Breckland) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998

	Made	19th May 1998
	Laid before Parliament	27th May 1998
	Coming into force	22nd June 1998

Whereas, pursuant to section 18(1) of the Agriculture Act 1986[1], the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food ("the Minister") has by order designated an area in Breckland as an environmentally sensitive area ("the designated area");

    And whereas it appears to the Minister that it is particularly desirable - 

    (1) to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the designated area together with an additional area in Breckland;

    (2) to conserve the flora and fauna and geological and physiographical features of those areas; and

    (3) to protect buildings and other objects of historic interest in that area;

    And whereas it appears to the Minister that the maintenance or adoption of particular agricultural methods in respect of the matters specified in the Schedules to the following Order is likely to facilitate such conservation, enhancement or protection;

    Now therefore the said Minister, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 18(1) and (4)[2] of the said Act, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, with the consent of the Treasury and after consultation with the Secretary of State, the Countryside Commission and the Nature Conservancy Council for England[3] in accordance with section 18(1) of the said Act, and with the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England in accordance with section 99 of the Environment Act 1995[4], makes the following Order:

Title and commencement
    1.This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Breckland) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998 and shall come into force on 22nd June 1998.

Interpretation
    2.In this Order "the principal Order" means the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Breckland) Designation Order 1993[5], as amended at the date that this Order comes into force.

Amendment of the principal Order
    3.The principal Order shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Order.

    4.In article 2(1) of the principal Order, the provisions immediately following the words "In this Order - " to the end of article 2(1), in so far as they were made under section 18 of the Agriculture Act 1986, shall be deleted and the following definitions shall be inserted at their appropriate alphabetical place:

" "agreement" means an agreement under section 18(3) of the Agriculture Act 1986 as respects agricultural land in the area designated by article 3;
"capital activity" means an activity specified in Schedule 1;
"conservation headland" means a strip of land at least six metres wide along the edge of a field growing arable crops that is subject to restrictions on the use of fertilisers and herbicides;
"conservation plan" means a plan incorporated into an agreement for the carrying out of one or more capital activities within a specified period;
"cultivated land" means land which is regularly ploughed or otherwise cultivated or that is regularly treated with fertilisers;
"farmer" means a person who has an interest in agricultural land in the area designated by article 3, and who has also entered into an agreement with the Minister;
"grassland" means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species;
"heathland" means sandy or chalky land which is free-draining and covered by semi-natural vegetation;
"management activity" means an activity specified in Schedule 2;
"public access route" means a strip of land which is the subject of an agreement and on which access is given to the public;
"relevant date" means 22nd June 1998;
"river valley grassland" means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species and on which the soil is not predominantly free-draining;
"uncropped wildlife strips" means a strip of land at least six metres wide at the edge of a field used for arable cropping which is subject to restrictions on the use of fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, nutrients and other agricultural admixtures;
"winter stubble" means the residue of stalks and other plant material remaining after harvest of a cereal or linseed crop and which is not removed over the winter period; and
"woodland" means land used for woodland where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes.".

    5.In article 3 of the principal Order, for the words "dated 3rd March 1993, signed and sealed by the Minister" there shall be substituted "dated 18th May 1998, signed on behalf of the Minister by the Parliamentary Secretary".

    6.For article 4 of the principal Order and the heading thereto there shall be substituted the following article and heading - 

" Matters in respect of which payments may be made
    4.Payments to be made by the Minister under an agreement may be made in respect of a capital activity or a management activity.".

    7.For article 5 of the principal Order and the heading thereto there shall be substituted the following article and heading - 

" Rates of payment
    5. - (1) Payments to be made by the Minister under an agreement shall not exceed - 


(a) in the case of a management activity, the rate specified in respect of that activity in column 2 of Schedule 2; and

(b) in the case of one or more capital activities included in a conservation plan, £100,000 in aggregate.



    (2) Any works which form part of an activity which constitutes both a management activity and a capital activity may by virtue of an agreement be eligible for payment either as part of a management activity or as part of a capital activity, but the agreement together with any conservation plan incorporated in it shall not provide for payment to be made on both such bases in respect of the same works.".

    8.For Schedule 1 to the principal Order there shall be substituted the Schedule set out in Schedule 1 to this Order.

    9.For Schedule 2 to the principal Order there shall be substituted the Schedule set out in Schedule 2 to this Order.

    10.The following provisions of the principal Order shall be deleted - 

(a) articles 4A, 6 and 7; and

(b) Schedules 3, 4, 5, 6 and 6A.

Elliot Morley
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

18th May 1998



We consent,


Graham Allen

Jim Dowd
Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury

19th May 1998

SCHEDULE 1Article 8

" SCHEDULE 1Articles 2(1) and 5(1)


CAPITAL ACTIVITIES

Provision of water supplies and fencing where necessary to facilitate the reintroduction of livestock for grazing.

Management of scrub.

Works designed for the supplementary treatment of heathland or reverted heathland, including soil disturbance, the introduction ofCallunaspecies and heather management.

The creation or restoration of ponds and the restoration of pingos.

Restoration of reedbeds and sedgebeds.

Control of bracken.

The provision of feeding areas in sites located away from heathland.

The planting or coppicing of hedges.

Construction of water-penning structures.

Restoration of pine belts and lines.

The provision of rabbit-proof fencing.

Works to protect historical and archaeological features.

The provision and restoration of gates, stiles and footbridges where an agreement includes the requirements as to public access.

Stump removal and any other necessary ground-preparation on sites reverting from forest to heath.

Other works for the restoration or enhancement of wildlife habitats."

SCHEDULE 2Article 9

" SCHEDULE 2Articles 2(1) and 5(1)


MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES



Column 1	Column 2
Activity	Maximum rate in £ per hectare of land per annum
1.Management of heathland.	140
2.In relation to cultivated land: (a) the reversion of arable land to heathland	350
(b) creation and management of uncropped wildlife strips	370
(c) creation and management of conservation headland	110
(d) the reversion of arable land to grassland: -  (i) on or adjacent to wetland sites	280
(ii) on or adjacent to archaeological sites	500
(e) establishment of winter stubbles	100
3.In relation to river valley grassland: (a) management of river valley grassland	130
(b) where management of any kind referred to in item (a) above is undertaken, additional management for the purposes of the maintenance of high water levels in ditches.	50
4.The maintenance of woodland.	17
5.The provision of public access routes.	170."

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Breckland) Designation Order 1993 ("the principal Order") which designated an area in Breckland as an environmentally sensitive area, in implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2078/92 (OJ No. L215, 30.7.92, p.85) on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2772/95 (OJ No. L288, 1.12.95, p.35) as in turn rectified by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1962/96 (OJ No. L259, 12.10.96, p.7).

The definitions set out in article 2(1) of the principal Order are consolidated and in addition new definitions are inserted (Article 4).

This Order replaces the Schedules to the principal Order (laying down detailed requirements of the scheme) by two new Schedules specifying the capital and management activities in respect of which payments may be made, and specifies the maximum payments in respect of such activities.

The area designated by the principal Order is increased (by an amendment to article 3 of the principal Order) and the designated area as thereby enlarged is shown (coloured yellow) in a new volume of maps dated 18th May 1998, which replaces the volume of maps referred to in article 3 of the principal Order dated 3rd March 1993 (Article 5).

The provisions of the principal Order that are amended or revoked do not include any that derive from the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (England) Designation (Amendment) Regulation 1996 (S.I. 1996/3104); those which derive from S.I. 1996/3104 are revoked (subject to a saving in certain cases) by the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (England) Designation (Revocation of Specified Provisions) Regulations 1998, coming into force on 21st June 1998.

No regulatory appraisal has been made in respect of this Order.

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Notes:

[1] 1986 c. 49. The expression "the Minister" is defined in section 18(11).back

[2] Section 18(4) was amended by S.I. 1994/249; sub-section 18(4A) was inserted by S.I. 1997/1457.back

[3] The provisions in section 18 of the Agriculture Act 1986 concerning Nature Conservancy Councils were amended by Part VII of, and Schedule 9 to, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43).back

[4] 1995 c. 25.back

[5] S.I. 1993/455, amended by S.I. 1994/923, 1995/198, 1996/3104 and 1997/1445.back

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ISBN 0 11 079177 0

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