The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Avon Valley) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998

Made: 19th May 1998

Laid before Parliament: 27th May 1998

Coming into force: 22nd June 1998

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 England³ 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 Act⁴, makes the following Order:

Title and commencement

1

This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Avon Valley) 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 (Avon Valley) Designation (Amendment) Order 1993⁵, as amended at the date 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), insofar 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;
• “buffer strip” means a strip of land which is subject to a prohibition on the use of fertilisers and pesticides, is at least five metres wide and is located at the edge of a field used for the production of arable crops;
• “capital activity” means an activity specified in Schedule 1 to this Order;
• “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;
• “extensive permanent grassland” means permanent grassland which is receiving no or only minimal inputs of fertiliser or pesticides;
• “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;
• “grassland management plan” means a plan for the carrying out of certain specific operations, including stock management and fertiliser restrictions, required by the agreement;
• “improved permanent grassland” means permanent grassland that is regularly treated with fertilisers and is used for pasture or for the production of hay or silage;
• “management activity” means an activity specified in Schedule 2;
• “permanent grassland” means grassland which has not been ploughed or reseeded for at least ten years;
• “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;
• “wet grassland” means grassland with the potential to retain winter and spring water levels at marsh level to create field wetness or to allow shallow pools to develop; and
• “woodland” means land used for woodland where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes.

5

For article 4 of the principal Order and the heading thereto there shall be substituted the following article and heading—

(4) A payment to be made by the Minister under an agreement may be made in respect of— (a) a capital activity; or (b) a management activity which— (i) in the case of a payment to be made under an agreement entered into before the relevant date, is specified in Part I or Part II of Schedule 2; and (ii) in the case of a payment to be made under an agreement entered into on or after the relevant date, is specified in Part I of Schedule 2.

6

For article 5 of the principal Order and the heading thereto there shall be substituted the following article and heading—

(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.

7

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

8

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

9

The following provisions of the principal Order shall be deleted—

• (a) articles 4A and 6; and

• (b) Schedules 1A, 3 and 4.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2

Signed

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

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Avon Valley) Designation Order 1993 (“the principal Order”) which designated an area in the Avon Valley 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, 12.10.1996).

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 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.

Footnotes