The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (South Downs—Western Extension) Designation Order 1987

• Citation: S.I. 1987/2032
• Sections: 10

Section 1 Citation and commencement

This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (South Downs—Western Extension) Designation Order 1987 and shall come into force on 1st January 1988.

Section 2 Interpretation

(1) In this Order—

“agreement” means an agreement under section 18(3) of the Agriculture Act 1986 as respects agricultural land in the area designated by article 3;

“chalk downland” means grassland situated on undulating chalk hills;

“farmer” means a person who has an interest in agricultural land in the area designated by article 3 and who has entered into an agreement with the Minister;

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

“livestock unit” means—

1 cow, or

1·4 bulls or other bovine animals over two years old, or

1·6 bovine animals from one year to two years old inclusive, or

2·5 bovine animals less than one year old, or

6·66 sheep;

“the Minister” means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

“woodland” means land used for woodland where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes.

(2) Any reference in this Order to a numbered article or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the article or Schedule bearing that number in this Order.

Section 3 Designation of environmentally sensitive area

There is hereby designated as an environmentally sensitive area the area of land in the South Downs in the Counties of Hampshire and West Sussex which is shown coloured yellow on the maps contained in the volume of maps marked “volume of maps of South Downs (Western Extension) environmentally sensitive area” dated 25th November 1987, signed and sealed by the Minister and deposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at Great Westminster House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AE.

Section 4 Requirements to be included in agreement

An agreement shall include the requirements specified in Schedule 1 as to agricultural practices, methods and operations and the installation and use of equipment.

Section 5 Provisions as to breach of requirements to be included in agreement

An agreement shall include provisions that:—

(a) in the event of a breach by the farmer of the requirements referred to in article 4 the Minister may give the farmer notice in writing terminating the agreement forthwith and may recover from the farmer as a civil debt an amount equivalent to the payments made by the Minister under the agreement or such part thereof as the Minister may specify;

(b) any question arising under an agreement as to whether there has been a breach of any of the requirements referred to in article 4 shall be referred to and determined by a single arbitrator to be agreed between the parties or in default of agreement to be appointed by the President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act 1950( ) or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in force.

Section 6 Rates of payment under agreement

(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, payments made by the Minister under an agreement shall be at the rate of £35 per annum for each hectare of grassland to which the agreement relates.

(2) Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 2 as to agricultural practices, methods and operations and the installation and use of equipment, payments made by the Minister in respect of land which under the agreement is subject to those additional provisions shall be at the rate of £160 per annum for each hectare of such land.

Section 1

As regards any grassland which is the subject of an agreement, including chalk downland—

(1) The farmer shall maintain grassland and shall not plough, level or re-seed. The farmer shall not cultivate except by chain harrow or roller.

(2) The farmer shall graze with cattle or sheep at an average stocking rate not exceeding one livestock unit per hectare per year, but in any event not so as to cause poaching, undergrazing or overgrazing.

(3) The farmer shall not cut grass for hay or silage nor top the sward before 16th June in any year.

(4) The farmer shall not apply any organic or inorganic fertiliser.

(5) The farmer shall not apply pesticides.

(6) The farmer shall not apply herbicides except to control nettles, spear thistle, creeping or field thistle, curled dock, broad-leaved dock or ragwort, or for stump treatment of cleared scrub. Herbicides used for these purposes shall be applied by weed wiper or by spot treatment.

(7) Within two years of the commencement of the agreement, the farmer shall obtain from the persons or bodies designated by the Minister written advice on the management of scrub.

Section 2

As regards any chalk downland which is the subject of an agreement—

(1) The farmer shall restrict supplementary feeding of livestock to areas agreed in advance with the Minister.

(2) The farmer shall not apply lime, slag or any substance designed to reduce the acidity of the soil.

Section 3

As regards any woodland which is the subject of an agreement—

Within two years of the commencement of the agreement, the farmer shall obtain from the persons or bodies designated by the Minister written advice on the management of woodland.

Section 4

As regards all land which is the subject of an agreement—

(1) The farmer shall maintain dewponds and reed beds.

(2) The farmer shall maintain stockproof walls and hedges in a stockproof condition using traditional methods.

(3) The farmer shall maintain any weatherproof field barn which he owns or the exterior of which he has a liability to repair in a weatherproof condition using traditional materials.

(4) The farmer shall not install any new drainage system nor substantially modify the existing drainage system.

(5) The farmer shall maintain existing ditches by non-chemical means. Where the maintenance of water levels is within the farmer’s control, the farmer shall—

(a) ensure that between 31st March and 1st October in any year ditch water levels are not less than 30 centimetres and not more than 60 centimetres below grassland level, and

(b) ensure at all times that ditches are not allowed to dry out completely.

(6) The farmer shall ensure in farming the land that he does not damage or destroy any feature of historic interest.

(7) The farmer shall obtain from the Minister written advice concerning siting and materials before constructing buildings or roads or carrying out other engineering operations authorised under Class VI of the Town and Country Planning General Development Orders 1977 to 1985( ). This requirement shall not apply to any development in respect of which notice of a direction restricting permitted development has been served under article 4 of the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1977( ).