1. This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Clun) Designation Order 1993 and shall come into force on 27th March 1993.
2.—(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;
“farmer” means a person who has an interest in agricultural land in the area designated by article 3 and who also has entered into an agreement with the Minister;
“grassland” means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species;
“managed woodland” means an area of at least one hectare of woodland for which, within two years of the start of an agreement, the farmer obtains approval for a grant in connection with the management of the land for forestry purposes under section 1 of the Forestry Act 1979(1)
“meadowland” means land primarily used for the production of hay or silage;
“rough grazing” means land covered by semi-natural vegetation;
“strip” means a strip of land at least 6 metres wide located at the edge of a field used for the production of arable crops;
“unimproved grassland” means grassland which has not been regularly ploughed, levelled, drained or reseeded or treated with fertilisers, lime, slag, herbicides or pesticides;
“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.
3. There is hereby designated as an environmentally sensitive area the area of land in the vicinity of Clun in Shropshire which is shown coloured yellow on the maps contained in the volume of maps marked “volume of maps of Clun environmentally sensitive area”, dated 3rd March 1993, signed and sealed by the Minister and desposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3HX.
4. An agreement shall include the requirements specified in Schedule 1 as to agricultural practices, methods and operations and the installation and use of equipment.
5. 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 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 the 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(2) or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in force.
6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, the Minister shall make payments under an agreement at the rate of £30 per annum for each hectare of land to which the agreement relates, and, in relation to the provisions of Schedule 1 paragraph 2 (hedgerow restoration), £8 per annum for each hectare of that land.
(2) Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 the Minister shall make payments at the rate per annum for each hectare of that land shown in the following table—
| £ per hectare of land per annum | |
|---|---|
| Schedule 2 | 80 |
| Schedule 3 | 100 |
| Schedule 4 | 170 |
| Schedule 5 | 240 |
| Schedule 6 | 25 |
| Schedule 7 | 60 |
(3) Where an agreement includes one or more of the conservation plan operations specified in Schedule 8, the Minister shall also make payments in respect of the aggregate of the operations included in the agreement at a rate not exceeding £100 per annum for each hectare of land to which the agreement relates, subject to a maximum of £4,000 per agreement.
7. The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Shropshire Borders) Designation Order 1987(3) is hereby revoked, except that the provisions of that Order shall continue to apply to agreements made in relation to it on or before 28th February 1993.
In witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on 3rd March 1993.
L.S.
John Selwyn Gummer
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
We consent
Tim Wood
Irvine Patnick
Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury
4th March 1993