NFU Cymru highlighted the significant uncertainty that surrounds the implementation of the Environment Bill, together with its potential impact on farm businesses across Wales, at the NAW Environment & Sustainability Committee scrutiny session recently.
The Bill seeks to promote sustainable management of natural resources and establishes a new general purpose for Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Also setting out requirements for a state of natural resources report; a national natural resources policy together with the requirement on NRW to produce and publish area statements which will facilitate the implementation of the national policy.
Attending the NAW Scrutiny session, NFU Cymru’s Environment/Rural Affairs Adviser, Rachel Lewis-Davies, said, “There is little information available on how the area statements would be developed and implemented in practice and it’s far too early to understand the outcome of the three pilot projects that are ongoing in Rhondda, Tawe and Dyfi – which had been established to consider how natural resources management could operate on the ground.”
NFU Cymru also urged for the area statement approach to be taken forward in a participatory way with farmers who own and manage 80% of the land area of Wales.
Rachel Lewis-Davies, said, “The ambition of the statements should be based on what is practically and economically achievable and delivered via voluntary, partnership approaches and not through additional regulation which adds cost to farm businesses and places the Welsh farming industry at a competitive disadvantage.
“It is also concerning that proposals have been made to broaden NRW powers to enter into Land Management Agreements, it is vital that these must always be voluntary and there is a need for appropriate compensatory mechanisms to be included within the Bill. On the issue of registering such agreements with the Land Registry, the Union emphasised that it was not acceptable for such registrations to remain with the Land Registry beyond the lifespan of the Management Agreement, due to its potentially damaging impact on land values.”
