The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Suffolk River Valleys) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998

• Citation: S.I. 1998/1310
• Sections: 21

Section 1 Title and commencement

This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Suffolk River Valleys) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998 and shall come into force on 22nd June 1998.

Section 2 Interpretation

In this Order “the principal Order ” means the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Suffolk River Valleys) Designation Order 1993 , as amended at the date that this Order comes into force.

Section 3 Amendment of the principal Order

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

Section 4 Amendment of the principal Order

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;

“buffer strip” means a strip of land which is subject to a prohibition on the use of fertilisers and other agricultural chemicals, is at least six metres wide, is located at the edge of a field and adjoins an open drainage channel or a hedgerow;

“capital activity” means an activity specified in Schedule 1;

“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;

“fen” means an area of semi-natural vegetation which is waterlogged throughout the year;

“grassland” means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species and includes meadowland, pasture and rough grazing;

“low input grassland” means permanent grassland which has not been regularly cultivated or reseeded, or treated with fertiliser, pesticides or other agricultural inputs, or permanent grassland that has the potential to retain high summer water levels;

“management activity” means an activity specified in Schedule 2;

“marsh” means grassland with the potential to retain high spring water levels in ditches so as to create field wetness or to allow shallow pools to develop;

“permanent grassland” means grassland which has not been ploughed or reseeded for at least five 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;

“reverted grassland” means grassland established pursuant to the provisions of an agreement on land previously used for arable cropping; and

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

Section 5 Amendment of the principal Order

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”.

Section 6 Amendment of the principal Order

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

Section 7 Amendment of the principal Order

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.

Section 8 Amendment of the principal Order

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

Section 9 Amendment of the principal Order

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

Section 10 Amendment of the principal Order

The following provisions of the principal Order shall be deleted—

(a) articles 4A and 6; and

(b) Schedules 1A, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Section 1

Management of permanent grassland.

Section 2

Management of reverted grassland.

Section 3

Management of low input grassland.

Section 4

Management of low input reverted grassland.

Section 5

Where management of any kind referred to in item 1, 2, 3 or 4 above is undertaken, additional management for the purpose of bringing about marsh conditions.

Section 6

Where management of any kind referred to in item 3, 4 or 5 above is undertaken, additional management for the purpose of bringing about high water levels.

Section 7

In relation to cultivated land:

(a) reversion of arable land to grassland.

Section 8

Management of fen vegetation.

Section 9

Maintenance of woodland.

Section 10

The provision of public access routes.

Section 11

Hedgerow restoration.