The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (North Peak) Designation Order 1993

Title and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (North Peak) Designation Order 1993 and shall come into force on 27th March 1993.

Interpretation

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;

“eroded heather moorland” means moorland where more than 25% of the area of land subject to an agreement is bare ground as a result of reduced heather growth;

“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;

“grazeable moorland” includes moorland areas other than areas which are cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum), bare ground, rock or scree with less than 10 per cent vegetation cover;

“heather” means common heather (Calluna vulgaris), and includes common heather growing in association with other ericaceous dwarf shrub species;

“inbye land” means enclosed land used for the production of grass or crops;

“livestock unit” means—

(a)

1 bovine animal more than two years old; or

(b)

1.66 bovine animals from six months old to two years old inclusive; or

(c)

6.66 sheep;

“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 either in connection with the management of the land for forestry purposes under section 1 of the Forestry Act 1979(1) or in relation to the conservation and enhancement of a National Park under section 39 or 44 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981(2);

“meadowland” means grassland primarily used for the production of hay or silage;

“moorland” means land covered by semi-natural upland vegetation which is generally unenclosed except along ownership boundaries;

“suppressed heather moorland” means moorland where less than 25% of the area of land subject to an agreement comprises heather;

“unimproved grassland” means grassland which has not been regularly ploughed, levelled, drained or reseeded, or treated with fertiliser, 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.

Designation of environmentally sensitive area

3.  There is hereby designated as an environmentally sensitive area the area of land in the North Peak in the Counties of Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire which is shown coloured yellow on the maps contained in the volume of maps marked “volume of maps of the North Peak environmentally sensitive area” dated 3rd March 1993, signed and sealed by the Minister and deposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3HX.

Requirements and provisions of agreement

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.

Provisions as to breach of requirements to be included in agreement

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 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 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(3) or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in force.

Rates of payment under agreement

6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, the Minister shall make payments under an agreement for land to which the agreement relates at the following rates—

(a) £10 per annum for each hectare of land other than unimproved grassland and enclosed rough grazing, or moorland;

(b) £30 per annum for each hectare of unimproved grassland and enclosed rough grazing;

(c) £25 per annum for each hectare of moorland,

and, in relation to the provisions of Schedule 1 paragraph 4 (non-stockproof walls), the Minister shall make payments at the rate of £6 per annum for each hectare of inbye land which is included in the agreement.

(2) Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in the options in Schedule 2 or in Schedule 3 in relation to any land, 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
—Exclosure Option	80
—Extensification Option	40
Schedule 3	25

(3) Where an agreement includes one or more of the conservation plan operations specified in Schedule 4, 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 £4000 per agreement.

Revocation and saving

7.  The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (North Peak) Designation Order 1987(4) 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

sTim Wood

Irvine Patnick

Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury

4th March 1993