AGRICULTURE Title and commencement 1 This Order may be cited as the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Avon Valley) Designation (Amendment) Order 1998 and shall come into force on 22nd June 1998. Interpretation 2 In this Order “the principal Order ” means the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Avon Valley) Designation (Amendment) Order 1993 , as amended at the date this Order comes into force. Amendment of the principal Order 3 The principal Order shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Order. 4 In article 2(1) of the principal Order, the provisions immediately following the words “In this Order—” to the end of article 2(1), insofar as they were made under section 18 of the Agriculture Act 1986, shall be deleted and the following definitions shall be inserted at their appropriate alphabetical place: “agreement” means an agreement under section 18(3) of the Agriculture Act 1986 as respects agricultural land in the area designated by article 3; “buffer strip” means a strip of land which is subject to a prohibition on the use of fertilisers and pesticides, is at least five metres wide and is located at the edge of a field used for the production of arable crops; “capital activity” means an activity specified in Schedule 1 to this Order; “conservation plan” means a plan incorporated into an agreement for the carrying out of one or more capital activities within a specified period; “cultivated land” means land which is regularly ploughed or otherwise cultivated or that is regularly treated with fertilisers; “extensive permanent grassland” means permanent grassland which is receiving no or only minimal inputs of fertiliser or pesticides; “farmer” means a person who has an interest in agricultural land in the area designated by article 3 and who has also entered into an agreement with the Minister; “grassland” means land on which the vegetation consists primarily of grass species; “grassland management plan” means a plan for the carrying out of certain specific operations, including stock management and fertiliser restrictions, required by the agreement; “improved permanent grassland” means permanent grassland that is regularly treated with fertilisers and is used for pasture or for the production of hay or silage; “management activity” means an activity specified in Schedule 2; “permanent grassland” means grassland which has not been ploughed or reseeded for at least ten years; “public access route” means a strip of land which is the subject of an agreement and on which access is given to the public; “relevant date” means 22nd June 1998; “wet grassland” means grassland with the potential to retain winter and spring water levels at marsh level to create field wetness or to allow shallow pools to develop; and “woodland” means land used for woodland where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes. . 5 For article 4 of the principal Order and the heading thereto there shall be substituted the following article and heading— Matters in respect of which payments may be made 4 A payment to be made by the Minister under an agreement may be made in respect of— a a capital activity; or b a management activity which— i in the case of a payment to be made under an agreement entered into before the relevant date, is specified in Part I or Part II of Schedule 2; and ii in the case of a payment to be made under an agreement entered into on or after the relevant date, is specified in Part I of Schedule 2. 6 For article 5 of the principal Order and the heading thereto there shall be substituted the following article and heading— Rates of payment 5 1 Payments to be made by the Minister under an agreement shall not exceed— a in the case of a management activity, the rate specified in respect of that activity in column 2 of Schedule 2; and b in the case of one or more capital activities included in a conservation plan, £100,000 in aggregate. 2 Any works which form part of an activity which constitutes both a management activity and a capital activity may by virtue of an agreement be eligible for payment either as part of a management activity or as part of a capital activity, but the agreement together with any conservation plan incorporated in it shall not provide for payment to be made on both such bases in respect of the same works. . 7 For Schedule 1 to the principal Order there shall be substituted the Schedule set out in Schedule 1 to this Order. 8 For Schedule 2 to the principal Order there shall be substituted the Schedule set out in Schedule 2 to this Order. 9 The following provisions of the principal Order shall be deleted— a articles 4A and 6; and b Schedules 1A, 3 and 4. Elliot Morley Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 18th May 1998 We consent, Graham Allen Jim Dowd Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury 19th May 1998