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Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 1U.K.Standards of Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition

Specified provisionsU.K.

1.  Breach of any of the following provisions constitutes a failure of cross-compliance for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009—

ProvisionSubject
F1. . .
(ii)

This is restricted to visible footpaths and other highways to which this section applies.

(iii)

This does not apply until 1st January 2012 but must be complied with from that date by all claimants whether or not the holding is in a nitrate vulnerable zone in accordance with those Regulations.

Weeds Act 1959 (1)
section 2 F1. . .Failure to comply with a notice served under section 1
Forestry Act 1967(2)
section 9(1)Requirement for a licence to fell trees
section 24Failure to comply with a notice
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979(3)
section 2(1)Carrying out works on a scheduled monument
Highways Act 1980(4)
section 131ADisturbance of surface of a footpath or other specified highway
section 134(3)Failing to restore a footpath or bridleway after ploughing, etc.
section 137Obstructing a footpath or other specified highway
section 146maintenance of stiles etc.
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981(5)
section 28E(1)Carrying out work in an SSSI
section 28P (6A)Damaging an SSSI
section 28P(8)Failure to comply with a management notice
section 31Failure to comply with a restoration notice
Town and Country Planning Act 1990(6)
section 210(1)Failure to comply with a tree preservation order
section 211Trees in a conservation area
Water Resources Act 1991(7)
section 24(1) [F2, so far as it relates to irrigation purposes]Abstracting water without, or in breach of, a licence F3...
Crop Residues (Burning) Regulations 1993(8)
regulation 4Crop burning
regulation 5Crop burning
Hedgerows Regulations 1997(9)
regulation 5Removing a hedgerow
Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999(10)
regulation 4(1)Carrying out a relevant project
regulation 22Failure to comply with an enforcement notice
Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (England)(No 2) Regulations 2006(11)
regulation 4 [F4, so far as it relates to an uncultivated land project]Carrying out an uncultivated land project, etc.
regulation 9 [F5, so far as it relates to an uncultivated land project]Carrying out a significant project
regulation 26Breach of a stop notice
regulation 28Failure to comply with a remediation notice
Heather and Grass etc Burning (England) Regulations 2007(12)
regulation 5(2)Burning specified vegetation
regulation 6(1)(a)Burning specified vegetation
The Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008(13)
regulation 20Spreading manufactured fertiliser near surface water
regulation 21Spreading organic manure near surface water, boreholes, springs or wells

Textual Amendments

Soil Protection ReviewU.K.

2.—(1) A claimant must complete, update and keep for at least two years a soil protection review for the holding on the form provided by the Secretary of State in accordance with the directions on that form for the year to which the claim relates (a different format may be used if all the information is entered at the times specified in the form).

(2) A soil protection review is not necessary if the holding is less than one hectare, excluding common land.

(3) A claimant who acquires land so that the holding (excluding common land) becomes greater than one hectare must complete a soil protection review on or before 31st December of that year.

(4) A claimant must take all reasonable steps to implement the measures identified in the soil protection review.

(5) For the purposes of this paragraph “common land” means land—

(a)subject to rights of common that have been entered in the register of common land or of town or village greens under the Commons Registration Act 1965(14) or Part 1 of the Commons Act 2006(15), or

(b)within one of the areas referred to in section 5(2) or (3) of the Commons Act 2006,

where rights of common are exercised by someone other than the farmer who owns or occupies the land.

Overgrazing and unsuitable supplementary feedingU.K.

[F63.—(1) Overgrazing and the use of unsuitable supplementary feeding methods are prohibited.

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply where the Secretary of State has, for reasons relating to the benefit of the environment, given written permission to do so.

(3) In this paragraph—

“overgrazing” means grazing with so many livestock as to affect adversely the growth, quality or diversification of any self-seeded or self-propagated vegetation characteristic of the area in which the land is situated; and

“unsuitable supplementary feeding methods” means methods that provide supplementary feed for livestock that affect adversely, through trampling or poaching of land by livestock, or through rutting by vehicles used to transport feed, the quality or diversity of any self-seeded or self-propagated vegetation characteristic of the area in which land is situated.]

Textual Amendments

Directions by the Secretary of StateU.K.

4.—(1) The Secretary of State may give a claimant specific guidance on paragraphs 2 and 3, and the claimant must have regard to that guidance.

(2) Where a claimant’s soils are poorly managed or the land is overgrazed, or unsuitable supplementary feeding methods are used, the Secretary of State may give the claimant written directions on these matters, and the claimant must comply with those directions.

Management of land not in agricultural productionU.K.

[F75.—(1) This paragraph applies in relation to agricultural land not in agricultural production during the single non-production period.

(2) The single non-production period is such period within any calendar year—

(a)during which the land is continuously not in agricultural production, and

(b)that includes the date of the deadline for submission of the single application for that year in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009.

(3) Agricultural land is not in agricultural production unless—-

(a)a crop has been planted on the land;

(b)preparatory work for a following crop such as ploughing or spraying has commenced on the land;

(c)the land is used for grazing (but this does not include grazing carried on for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)); or

(d)the land is used for growing grass to be cut as feed.

(4) A claimant must cut scrub, and must cut or graze rank vegetation, on all agricultural land not in agricultural production at least every 5 years.

(5) In any 12-month period a claimant may not cut or graze scrub or rank vegetation on more than 50% of the agricultural land not in agricultural production except—

(a)to comply with paragraph 6 (control of weeds) or section 2 of the Weeds Act 1959;

(b)to manage the land to control an infestation of blackgrass (Alopecurus myosuroides), couch (Agropyron repens), creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense) or dock (Rumex species) for the first 15 months from the date of harvest;

(c)to establish grassy buffers alongside temporary or permanent watercourses to reduce or prevent surface run-off entering watercourses;

(d)to establish grassy areas to prevent erosion and run-off;

(e)to establish plots of up to approximately 2 hectares to accommodate ground nesting birds, especially stone curlews;

(f)to cut pollen and nectar mixtures sown to provide food resources for wildlife, in order to promote flowering.

(6) No person may cut or plough between 1st March and 31st July inclusive any vegetation on agricultural land not in agricultural production other than to carry out one of the operations listed in sub-paragraph (5)(a) to (f).

(7) No person may apply inorganic fertiliser, manure or slurry to agricultural land not in agricultural production, unless the land is known to be used as, and is managed as, a geese feeding area in winter.

(8) Nothing in sub-paragraphs (4) to (6) applies to the extent that it would contravene section 2(1) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

(9) Nothing in sub-paragraphs (4) to (7) applies to the extent that it would contravene section 28E(1), 28P(6A), 28P(8) or 31 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.]

[F8(10) Nothing in sub-paragraphs (4) to (7) applies where the Secretary of State has, for reasons relating to the benefit of the environment, given written permission to do so.]

Textual Amendments

[F9Control of weedsU.K.

6.—(1) A claimant must take all reasonable steps to prevent the spread, on and from the holding, of the following weeds—

(a)broad-leafed dock (Rumex obtusifolius);

(b)creeping or field thistle (Cirsium arvense);

(c)curled dock (Rumex crispus);

(d)giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum);

(e)Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera);

(f)Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica);

(g)ragwort (Senecio jacobaea);

(h)rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum);

(i)spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare).

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply where the Secretary of State has, for reasons relating to the benefit of the environment, given written permission to do so.]

Textual Amendments

“Hedgerows”U.K.

7.  References in this Schedule to “hedgerows” are to hedgerows to which the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 apply [F10, but references in paragraph 8 also include hedgerows referred to in sub-paragraph (3A) of that paragraph] .

Textual Amendments

Protection of hedgerows and watercoursesU.K.

8.—(1) A claimant must take all reasonable steps to maintain a green cover on, and must not cultivate, or apply fertilisers or pesticides to—

(a)land within 2 metres of the centre of a hedgerow, watercourse or field ditch; and

(b)land between the edge of the watercourse or field ditch and 1 metre on the landward side of the top of the bank of a watercourse or field ditch.

(2) This does not apply—

(a)to land on either side of a hedgerow that was planted on or after 1st January 2005 and is less than 5 years old;

(b)to land forming part of a parcel of 2 hectares or less, as measured within permanent boundary features;

(c)in relation to the use of pesticides, if the only application of pesticides is the spot-application of herbicides to control the spread of any of the weeds in paragraph 6;

(d)to the extent that the Secretary of State has, for reasons relating to livestock production, crop production or the enhancement of the environment, given the claimant written permission to do so;

(e)to cultivation for the purposes of casting up a traditional hedgebank between 1st August and the last day of February inclusive (a traditional hedgebank is an earth bank, faced with turf or stone, usually topped with hedge plants).

(3) A claimant may cultivate the land referred to in sub-paragraph (1) in order to establish a green cover if that land does not already have a green cover, and is —

(a)part of a field that has been created by the merger of two or more fields;

(b)land created by the division of a field; or

(c)land previously excluded from the provisions of cross-compliance.

[F11(3A) Sub-paragraphs (1) to (3) apply to land on the side of a hedgerow which is facing away from a dwelling house where that hedgerow marks a boundary of the curtilage of that dwelling house.]

F12(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5) As soon as is reasonably practicable after 31st December 2011 a claimant must produce and keep a map (which may be the map produced for the purposes of regulation 18 of the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008) showing—

(a)the holding,

(b)all surface waters on the holding and land within 10 metres of them,

(c)all boreholes, springs and wells on the holding or within 50 metres of the holding boundary and land within 50 metres of them,

and if circumstances change the claimant must update the map within three months of the change.

Textual Amendments

Cutting or trimming hedgerowsU.K.

9.—(1) Cutting or trimming hedgerows is not permitted between 1st March and 31st July inclusive except in accordance with this paragraph.

(2) Cutting and trimming are permitted if the hedgerow—

(a)overhangs a highway or any other road or footpath so as to endanger or obstruct the passage of vehicles or pedestrians;

(b)obstructs or interferes with the view of drivers of vehicles or the light from a public lamp;

(c)overhangs a highway so as to endanger or obstruct the passage of horse-riders; or

(d)is dead, diseased, damaged or insecurely rooted, and because of its condition it, or part of it, is likely to cause danger by falling on a highway, road or footpath.

(3) Hedge-laying and coppicing are permitted between 1st March and 30th April inclusive.

(4) Trimming by hand is permitted for six months after the hedgerow is laid.

(5) Cutting and trimming are permitted if the Secretary of State has, in order to enhance the environment, improve public or agricultural access, or for reasons relating to livestock or crop production, given the claimant written permission to do so.

Stone wallsU.K.

10.—(1) Removing a stone wall, or stone from a stone wall, is prohibited.

(2) But this does not apply—

(a)to widening an existing gateway in a wall to no more than 10 metres in order to provide access to the land for machinery or livestock, and in that case the ends of the wall created by the widening operation must be finished with a vertical face;

(b)to removing stone to use it—

(i)to repair another stone wall on the holding which is in better condition than the stone wall which is removed or from which the stone is removed;

(ii)to make minor repairs to a footpath on the holding; or

(c)if the Secretary of State has given the claimant written permission to do so in order to enhance the environment, improve public or agricultural access, or for reasons relating to livestock or crop production.

(3) In this paragraph—

(a)“stone wall” means a stone wall that is or was used as a field boundary with—

(i)a continuous length of at least 10 metres;

(ii)a continuous length of less than 10 metres which meets (whether by intersection or junction) another field boundary at each end; or

(iii)a continuous length of less than 10 metres which forms an enclosure;

(b)“footpath” has the meaning given to it in section 329(1) of the Highways Act 1980.

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 2U.K.Circumstances where a breach of Schedule 1 is not non-compliance

1.  Any action carried out under a commitment under—U.K.

(a)a scheme established under Council Regulation (EC) No 2078/92 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside(16);

(b)a scheme established under Article 14, 22 to 24 or 31 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)(17);

(c)a management agreement entered into under—

(i)section 16 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949(18);

(ii)section 15 of the Countryside Act 1968(19);

(iii)section 7 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006(20);

(d)an approved project in respect of which financial assistance is paid under the Energy Crops Regulations 2000(21);

(e)a measure listed in Article 36 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development(22).

2.  Any action carried out [F13on the land] —U.K.

[F14(a)by virtue of, or in connection with, any power or authorisation conferred by or under any enactment, provided that following the completion of the action the agricultural land will be in good agricultural and environmental condition for the purposes of Article 6(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009;]

F15(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c)in the interests of human or animal health or safety;

(d)either to enable a serious cause of harm to plant health or serious infestation of any pest or specified weed to be treated, or to permit measures to be taken to prevent the development of any such cause of harm or infestation.

Textual Amendments

(1)

1959 c. 54. Section 1A was inserted into the Weeds Act 1959 by section 1 of the Ragwort Control Act 2003 (c.40).

(2)

1967 c. 10. The provisions of section 24 were extended to restocking notices by section 1 of the Forestry Act 1986 (c.30), which inserted sections 17A to 17C into the Forestry Act 1967. Section 24 was amended by S.I. 2006/780.

(4)

1980 c. 66. Section 131A was inserted by the Rights of Way Act 1990 (c.24 ) section 1. Section 134 was substituted by the Rights of Way Act 1990 (c.24) section 1. Section 146 (5) (aa) was inserted by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (c.37) section 69.

(5)

1981 c. 69. Section 28E(1) was substituted by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37) section 75(1) Schedule 9 paragraph 1. Section 28P was substituted by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37) section 75(1) Schedule 9 paragraph 1. Section 28P (6A) was inserted by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (c.16) section 55.

(6)

1990 c. 8. Section 211 was amended by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (c.5) section 86.

(7)

1991 c. 57. Section 24(1) was amended by the Environment Act 1995 section 120 Schedule 22 paragraph 128.

(9)

S. I. 1997/1160. as amended by S.I. 2003/2155.

(10)

S. I. 1999/2228 as amended by S.I. 2006/3106.

(15)

2006 c. 26; with effect from 1st October 2008, the Commons Act 2006 (Commencement No. 4 and Savings) (England) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1960 (c.94)) commenced the relevant provisions of the Commons Act 2006 (and repealed the corresponding provisions of the Commons Registration Act 1965) in relation to seven pilot areas (being the registration areas in England, as at 1st October 2008, of the commons registration authorities specified in the Schedule to that Order).

(16)

OJ No L 215, 30.7.92, p. 85. This Regulation has been repealed but schemes under it are still in existence.

(17)

OJ No L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80 as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ No L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1).

(18)

1949 c. 97 The Nature Conservancy’s powers under section 16 of this Act to enter into agreements with owners, lessees or occupiers of land within nature reserves were transferred to the Natural Environment Research Council by section 3 of the Science and Technology Act 1965 (c.4). They were then transferred to the Nature Conservancy Council by section 1 of the Nature Conservancy Council Act 1973 (c.54), and then to the Nature Conservancy Council for England by section 132 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c.43). That body was renamed English Nature by section 73 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37). Section 26 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (c.16) provided for the transfer of English Nature’s functions in relation to such agreements to Natural England. Section 16 of the 1949 Act was amended by section 105(1) of, and paragraph 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 11 to, the 2006 Act, with the result that, from 1 October 2006, no new agreements can be entered into under section 16 with regard to England..

(19)

1968 c. 41 The Natural Environment Research Council’s powers under section 15 of this Act to enter into agreements with owners, lessees or occupiers of land within areas of special scientific interest were transferred to the Nature Conservancy Council by section 1 of the Nature Conservancy Council Act 1973 (c.54), and then to the Nature Conservancy Council for England by section 132 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c.43). That body was renamed English Nature by section 73 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c.37). Section 26 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (c.16) provided for the transfer of English Nature’s functions in relation to such agreements to Natural England. Section 15 of the 1968 Act was amended by section 105(1) of, and paragraph 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 11 to, the 2006 Act, with the result that, from 1 October 2006, no new agreements can be entered into under section 15 with regard to England.

(22)

OJ No L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1 as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 473/2009 (OJ No L 144, 9.6.2009, p. 3).