AGRICULTURE Title and commencement 1 This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Upper Thames Tributaries) Designation Order 1994 and shall come into force on 6th April 1994. Interpretation 2 1 In this Order— “access route” means a strip of land 10 metres wide which is the subject of an agreement including the requirements specified in Schedule 2 as to public access; “agreement” means an agreement under section 18(3) of the Agriculture Act 1986 as respects agricultural land in the area designated by article 3; “conservation plan” means a plan for the carrying out of one or more of the operations specified in Schedule 6 which the farmer undertakes, as part of an agreement, to implement within a period of two years; “extensive permanent grassland” means permanent grassland which is receiving no or only minimal inputs of fertiliser, lime, slag or pesticides; “farmer” means a person who has an interest in agricultural land in the area designated by article 3 and who has entered into an agreement with the Minister; “fen habitat” means an area of semi-natural vegetation which is waterlogged throughout the year; “grassland” means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species; “livestock unit” means— 1 bovine animal more than two years old; 1.66 bovine animals from six months old to two years inclusive; 6.66 sheep; 1 horse more than six months old; or 4.35 farmed deer; “permanent grassland” means grassland which has not been ploughed or reseeded for at least five years; “recognised dairy breed” means one of the following breeds, namely, Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey and Kerry; “wetland” means land which is subject to regular flooding or which is waterlogged for the greater part of the year. 2 Any reference in this Order to a numbered article or Schedule shall be construed as a reference to the article or Schedule bearing that number in this Order. Designation of environmentally sensitive area 3 There is hereby designated as an environmentally sensitive area the area of land in the valleys of the Upper Thames and its tributaries in the Counties of Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, and Oxfordshire which is shown coloured yellow on the maps contained in the volume of maps marked “volume of maps of the Upper Thames Tributaries environmentally sensitive area” dated 3rd March 1994, signed and sealed by the Minister and deposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. Requirements included in an agreement 4 An agreement shall include the requirements specified in Schedule 1 as to agricultural practices, methods and operations and the installation and use of equipment. 5 An agreement may also include the requirements as to public access specified in Schedule 2 to this Order. Breach of requirements 6 An agreement shall include provisions that— a in the event of a breach by the farmer of the requirements referred to in article 4 which are included in the agreement, the Minister may give the farmer notice in writing terminating the agreement forthwith and may recover from the farmer as a debt an amount equivalent to the payments made by the Minister under the agreement or such part thereof as the Minister may specify; b action arising under the agreement as to whether there has been a breach of any of the requirements referred to in article 4 shall be referred to and determined by a single arbitrator to be agreed between the parties or in default of agreement to be appointed by the President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act 1950 or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in force. Rates of payment under agreement 7 1 The Minister shall make payments under an agreement at the rate of £30 per annum for each hectare of permanent grassland to which the agreement relates and at the rate of £100 per annum for each hectare of extensive permanent grassland to which the agreement relates unless a higher rate is applicable in accordance with paragraph (3) below. 2 Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 2 the Minister shall make payments at the rate of £170 per annum for each hectare of access route. 3 Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 3 in relation to any wet grassland,the Minister shall make payments at the rate of £150 per annum for each hectare of that land. 4 Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in either of the options in Schedule 4 in relation to any land the Minister shall make payments at the rate per annum for each hectare of that land shown in the following table— per hectare of land per annum Schedule 4 option 1 £260 option 2 £310 5 Where an agreement includes the additional provisions specified in Schedule 5, the Minister shall make payments at the rate of £3 for each 10 metres of stockproof hedge per hectare, subject to a maximum of 50 metres of stockproof hedge per hectare and a maximum number of hectares corresponding to the area of land subject to the provisions of Schedule 1 which contains or is enclosed or partially enclosed by such hedges. 6 Where an agreement includes a conservation plan, the Minister shall also make payments in respect of the aggregate of the operations included in the plan at a rate not exceeding £75 per annum for each hectare of land to which the agreement relates, subject to a maximum of £3,000 for each such plan. In witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on 3rd March 1994. Gillian Shephard Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food We consent, Timothy Wod Nicholas Baker Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury 3rd March 1994