Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Avon Valley) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1998 No. 1307
AGRICULTURE
The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Avon Valley) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998
Made 19th May 1998
Laid before Parliament 27th May 1998
Coming into force 22th June 1998
Whereas, pursuant to section 18(1) of the Agriculture Act 19861, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (“the Minister”) has by order designated an area in the Avon Valley as an environmentally sensitive area (“the designated area”);
And whereas it appears to the Minister that it is particularly desirable—
to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the designated area;
to conserve the flora and fauna and geological and physiographical features of that area; and
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)2of 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 England3in 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—
“Matters in respect of which payments may be made
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...
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