A clear disparity between farm experience on the ground and the vision the chief executive of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has for how farmers and the environment can work together, arose at the NFUS AGM in Glasgow last Thursday. Terry A’Hearn, CEO of SEPA, outlined a vision for farmers and SEPA officials to work together to solve environmental issues. But the question and answer session revealed that past experiences mean groundwork will need to be done to rebuild the relationship between farmers and SEPA officials.

“The hardest thing to do is to get 1,200 to 1,300 people operating the way we want. We have a variety of staff and a variety of challenges in how we do that,” A’Hearn said. “The biggest focus I have as leader of the organisation is to get consistency in the way we operate. So this is why we have things like the sector plans. People in the local offices administer processes; there is a plan for how processes work but no plan for the sector. So I put aspirations out there and I don’t know any other environmental regulator that understands the pressures you face as farmers. The plan makes it clear for everyone how they should operate.”

He encouraged farmers to feed back their experiences with staff to him. This includes issues experienced with SEPA’s role in the debate around beavers. A’Hearn stressed the need for “an open and robust relationship” between farmers and SEPA. But as one person in the audience rightfully pointed out; as the ‘enforcer’ of regulations SEPA is on the back foot straight away when it comes to relationships on the ground.

SEPA is currently looking at water charges as well. A’Hearn said he “can’t guarantee there will be a reduction but we will reflect on what’s being said and come back and review the process.”