Environmental Impact Assessments and its regulations can often be overlooked/forgotten when planning to change farming practices on the farm. The intentions of the regulations, which are taken from the EU directive, are to assess the ‘effects of certain public and private projects on the environment’. Within agriculture, there are a few instances where an EIA will be required, even if at just the Screening stage. Grassland is often a contender, when having been permanent grass for a number of years. If the grass has not been cultivated, drilled or chemically fertilised in the last 15 years, it becomes unimproved, semi-natural grassland (which also includes marshland, peat bogs, heathland, bracken etc.). In this case, consent will be required in order to perform any activities that will break the soil surface or chemically enhance the soil in order to increase its productivity i.e. ploughing, power-harrowing, discing and spraying. It is worth noting that land that is unimproved due to an environmental stewardship scheme does not fall within the EIA regulations unless it has also been grassland for 15 years or more. It can therefore be improved following the guidelines of the stewardship scheme.
Natural England will require proof that the land has been regularly altered through cultivations or chemical improvements. The evidence that can be provided can include fertiliser records, farm diaries or third-party witness statements (e.g. from neighbouring farmers).
What do you have to do for an EIA?
To determine whether a project requires an EIA, Schedule 2 of The Town and Country Planning (EIA) Regulations 2017 lists when Screening or a full EIA will be required:
1. Agriculture and Aquaculture
a) Projects for the use of uncultivated land or semi-natural areas for intensive agricultural purposes (over 0.5ha);
b) Water management projects for agriculture, including irrigation and land drainage projects (over 1ha);
c) Intensive livestock installations (floorspace exceeds 500 sqm);
d) Intensive fish farming;
e) Reclamation of land from the sea.
Depending on the location of the land in question, certain aspects will have to be considered, like archaeological importance, geophysical survey and ecological and visual impact assessments. For example, throughout Wiltshire, there are a large number of archaeological sites that are recorded with the Wiltshire Council Archaeology department. In order to find out if your project will impact on any sites of historic or archaeological importance, a call to the County Archaeologist to run a check or even a site visit will be worth doing. If nothing of importance is found, a quick report from them can be useful to add to the Environmental Screening Report (ESR) to reinforce your claim that a full EIA is not required.
An ESR report requires information as to the impact your project will have on both the area of the project and the environmental features including any sites of historic/archaeological importance, AONB/National Parks, Scheduled Monuments, SSSI, residues or emissions e.g. soil erosion or run-off, natural resources such as water and biodiversity.
Having to do an EIA/ESR can sometimes cause a headache and a delay in the project, and often projects go ahead without one being or having to be done. However, the consequences of not complying with these regulations can end in a fine or the loss of some or all of the BPS payment.
If you are planning any projects that you think might not comply with EIA regulations, please contact Prue at pruewaterton@fcgagric.com or your local FCG office.