The Habitat (Coastal Belt) (Wales) Regulations 1994

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, livestock breeding and keeping and freshwater fish farming, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, reed beds, market gardens and nursery grounds, and “agricultural” shall be construed accordingly;

• “application” means an application for aid under regulation 4 and “applicant” shall be construed accordingly;

• “bank” means a bank made of stone or earth falling within or forming the boundary of a field;

• “beneficiary” means a person whose application has been accepted;

• “boulder” means a rock projecting partly or wholly above the surface of the land to a height of at least 0.1 metres and covering a minimum area above ground of 0.5 square metres;

• “coastal belt” means land on cliff tops or coastal slopes where the natural vegetation consists predominantly of dwarf shrubs, including ericoids and maritime species, or grassland which includes maritime grass species;

• “eligible land” means any agricultural land which is either improved coastal belt or unimproved coastal belt and—

  (a)

  which is not situated in an environmentally sensitive area designated under section 18 of the Agriculture Act 1986(1);

  (b)

  which is not subject to an experimental scheme made by the Countryside Council for Wales under section 4(1) of the Countryside Act 1968(2);

  (c)

  which is not the subject of an agreement entered into under section 15 of the Countryside Act 1968 or under section 16 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949(3); and

  (d)

  in respect of which no grant has been paid by the Secretary of State under the Farm Woodland Scheme 1988(4) or by the Forestry Commissioners;

• “eligible person” means a person who on the date of the submission of his application occupies eligible land as an owner or tenant and who at the commencement of the management period will have so occupied that land for a period of at least twelve months;

• “heather” means vegetation consisting of Calluna vulgaris, Erica tetralix, Erica cinerea or Vaccinium myrtillus;

• “holding” means land which is occupied as a unit for agricultural purposes;

• “improved coastal belt” means coastal belt which has been regularly modified by ploughing, reseeding, levelling, drainage or the application of inorganic or organic fertilisers, lime or pesticides;

• “landlord” means, in relation to a tenant of any land, any person who either solely or jointly owns or has a superior tenancy of that land;

• “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;

• “management obligations” means the obligations assumed by a beneficiary by virtue of the undertakings referred to in regulation 3 or 6;

• “management period”, in relation to an application accepted by the Secretary of State, means the period of 10 consecutive years commencing on a date agreed by the Secretary of State and the beneficiary;

• “rock outcrop” means an area of land where a stratum of underlying rock is exposed above the surface of the ground and which covers an area above ground of not less than nine square metres;

• “scrub” means vegetation consisting of locally native shrub species and tree saplings usually less than 5 metres in height and with a trunk diameter of less than 150 millimetres at a height of 1.3 metres;

• “tenant” means a person who occupies land—

  (a)

  under an agreement for the letting of land for a tenancy from year to year;

  (b)

  under an agreement which has effect by virtue of section 2(1) or 3(1) of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986(5) as an agreement for the letting of land for a tenancy from year to year; or

  (c)

  under a contract of tenancy for a fixed term of years of which at least 10 years remain unexpired at the commencement of the management period;

• “traditional farm buildings” means buildings which are in current agricultural use, but excluding living accommodation, and which are built of materials traditional to the locality;

• “unimproved coastal belt” means coastal belt which has not been regularly modified by ploughing, reseeding, levelling, drainage or the application of inorganic or organic fertilisers, lime or pesticides;

• “wildlife” means—

  (a)

  any animal (other than a bird) which is ordinarily resident in Wales in a wild state;

  (b)

  any bird which is ordinarily resident in or is a visitor to Wales in a wild state; and

  (c)

  any plant which is of a kind which ordinarily grows in Wales in a wild state.

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or “the Schedule” shall be construed as a reference to the regulation so numbered in these Regulations or the Schedule to these Regulations.

(1)

1986 c. 49.

(2)

1968 c. 41; section 4(1) was substituted by section 40 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69) and was later amended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 8 to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43); section 15 was amended by the Nature Conservancy Council Act 1973 (c. 54) and by paragraph 4 of Schedule 9 to the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

(3)

1949 c. 97; section 16 was amended by the Nature Conservancy Council Act 1973 and paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 9 to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 provides a new meaning of “Nature Conservancy Council”.

(4)

S.I.1988/1291, amended by S.I.1991/1631, 1992/905.

(5)

1986 c. 5.