Land improvement proposals meet strong resistance

IFA are to intensively lobby politicians to row back on what have been described as ''draconian measures'' surrounding land improvement. There is real time pressure on the issue, as the commission are demanding action from the Government by the end of the month.

The wish of the EU Commission to see planning permission required for land reclamation, ditch removal, drainage work was first revealed in the Irish Farmers Journal before the general election.

A proposal to create a system of approval for such work by the Department of Agriculture would eliminate the need for an impact assessment study or for planning permission in most cases.

Duplication

However, it is believed that the Department of the Environment are the proposed lead agency for this process for wetlands, a duplication of responsibility that has echoes of other issues, such as cross-compliance and Nitrates inspections.

This proposal has been slammed by IFA.

IFA president John Bryan has described the proposals as ''ludicrous and totally disproportionate to the pressures on the environment''.

He called on Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Phil Hogan, to move immediately to find a workable solution.

''The measures proposed represent a further encroachment by the State on farmers' property rights and ignore requirements already legislated for,'' he said.

''Under the Wildlife Acts, farmers are restricted from cutting hedges and under cross-compliance a farmer is required to prevent soil damage, and maintain boundaries and habitats.

''The proposals in their current form ignore the existing obligation and impose an additional layer of costs and compliance measures. Unnecessary burdens such as these will restrict competitiveness and growth.

good record

''Farmers have a good environmental record, planting 10,000km of new hedgerows, building over 3,000km of stonewalls, planting one million broadleaf native trees and during 2010 recycling almost 20,000 tonnes of plastic,'' Bryan pointed out.

''Over €2bn was also spent bringing farms up to the highest environmental standard. This proposed legislation is not progressive and is excessive when considered against the existing measures in place.''