Countryside Management Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Regulation 3(2)(a)

SCHEDULE 1GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

1.  The applicant shall –

(a)comply with the Good Farming Practice with regard to the Environment(1), published by the Department;

(b)retain and not damage any habitat, landscape or water feature, or archaeological or heritage feature;

(c)retain existing field boundaries and not remove any hedge, tree, copse, scrub, ditch, dyke or wall or any part thereof, except with the prior written permission of the Department;

(d)maintain open drains and sheughs in accordance with the written advice of the Department;

(e)keep the eligible land free from rubbish and litter;

(f)seek the permission of the Department before undertaking work which may have a detrimental impact on any habitat, landscape feature or archaeological or heritage feature; and

(g)comply with management plans provided by the Department for field boundaries, farm waste and each of the habitats specified in the agreement.

2.  The applicant shall not –

(a)undertake ploughing, levelling or reseeding of unimproved land, or any semi-natural grassland;

(b)apply any herbicide, pesticide, fungicide or insecticide on any land other than improved land except spot treatment or weed wiper application of herbicide for control of noxious weeds;

(c)undertake any land reclamation or install new underdrainage or substantially modify the existing drainage system;

(d)apply lime to any habitat other than improved land unless with prior written approval of the Department;

(e)cause severe damage to vegetation by poaching or repeated vehicular access, (including all terrain vehicles) nor graze land with livestock in such numbers as adversely to affect the growth quality or species composition of vegetation (other than vegetation normally grazed to destruction) to a significant degree;

(f)carry out any activity or deposit on, or extract from the land, any article, material or substance in a manner likely to detract significantly from the natural beauty of the land or damage or destroy flora and fauna or materially alter the geological or physiographical features of the land; or

(g)realign, dredge or dam any watercourse nor alter the water levels within any existing water feature without the prior agreement of the Department.

3.  The applicant shall during the first 5 years of an undertaking participate in a training programme approved by the Department designed to develop competencies necessary to the delivery of his obligations.