Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order amends the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Argyll Islands) Designation Order 1993 (“the principal Order”).
The Order amends the definition of “wetlands” (article 2) and amends the maximum rate of payments for expenditure identified in an agreement under section 18(3) of the Agriculture Act 1986 as required to undertake additional farming operations specified in the principal Order. For agreements entered into on or after 15th August 1996 there is substituted for the present maximum rate of £3,500 per annum per crofter, farmer or common grazing committee a maximum rate of £30,000 for each 5 year conservation plan included in such agreement. Transitional provision is made for agreements in force on that date (article 3).
The Order also makes a drafting amendment to the Schedule to the principal Order and deletes “spreading” (of fertiliser) from the farming operations which are controlled by the relevant dates in the prescription to protect ground-nesting birds, because this operation is unlikely to cause damage unlike cultivating, harrowing, rolling or mowing (article 4).