Regulation 14 Amendments to the Common Agricultural Policy (Cross-Compliance) (Scotland) Regulations 2014

In Part 2 of the schedule (standards for good agricultural and environmental condition)—

(a)

in paragraph 1 (establishment of buffer strips along water courses)—

(i)

in sub-paragraph (2) after “within” insert “, or on any land in a manner which will likely result in organic manure being located within,”; and

(ii)

after sub-paragraph (7)^f1, insert—

“(8)
In this paragraph, “field heap” means a store or stack of organic manure which is a freestanding heap which does not slump or produce free draining liquid from within the stacked material.”;

(b)

in paragraph 5(1) (minimum land management reflecting site specific conditions to limit erosion) for “prevent” substitute “limit”; and

(c)

in paragraph 7 (retention of landscape features)—

(i)

for sub-paragraph (2) substitute—

“(2)
A beneficiary must not trim a hedge or cut a tree during the period beginning on 1st March and ending on 31st August in any calendar year (“the prohibited period”), except in accordance with sub-paragraph (3A) or (3B).”;

(ii)

for sub-paragraph (3) substitute—

“(3)
Written consent under sub-paragraph (1) is not required—

(a)
to widen field entrances to enable access for livestock or farm machinery; or

(b)
where the hedge (or part of a hedge) or tree is—

(i)
dead;

(ii)
damaged; or

(iii)
insecurely rooted,

and because of its condition it poses a risk to human safety.”;

(iii)

after sub-paragraph (3) insert—

“(3A)
Trimming a hedge or cutting a tree is permitted during the prohibited period—

(a)
for the purposes of hedgelaying up to and including 31st March; or

(b)
to the extent necessary for the purposes of road safety.

(3B)
Trimming a hedge or cutting a tree during the month of August in any calendar year is permitted if—

(a)
the hedge or tree is in a field which during that month has been sown with—

(i)
a crop of oilseed rape; or

(ii)
temporary grass; or

(b)
the hedge or tree is in a field which during that month has been sown with any other crop and the Scottish Ministers have given the beneficiary written permission to trim the hedge or cut the tree.”; and

(iv)

in sub-paragraph (7)—

(aa)

omit “and” at the end of head (b)(ii); and

(bb)

for head (c) substitute—

“(c)
“hedgelaying” means a traditional method of cultivating hedges where tall saplings are partly cut through near the base and then bent over so that they lie horizontally and make a thick barrier; and

(d)
“necessary for the purposes of road safety” includes where a tree or hedge—

(i)
overhangs a road, surfaced track or footpath to which the public have access so as to endanger or obstruct the passage of vehicles, pedestrians or horse-riders; or

(ii)
obstructs or interferes with the view of drivers of vehicles or the light from a public lamp.”.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: Sub-paragraph (7) was inserted by S.S.I. 2015/215.