MP hits out at Natural England’s SSSI ruling

Former Tory leader Michael Howard has hit out at Natural England’s surprise decision to designate 9000ha (22,000 acres) of Kent and East Sussex land as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Mr Howard, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, told a public meeting in Brenzett, Romney Marsh, last Friday (22 September), that the move could discourage other producers from farming in an environmentally-friendly way.

One of the main reasons the land around Romney Marsh, Rye Bay and Dungeness seemed to have been designated was because producers had taken steps such as creating new wetlands which had improved the area’s wildlife status, said Mr Howard.

“If the consequences [of putting in environmental features] are likely to be that Natural England’s comes in and prevents people from farming in the way they have always been able to farm, then producers are going to think twice about putting those features on the farm.”

About 50 farmers attended the NFU-organised meeting, which was addressed by Natural England spokesman Brian Banks.

Mr Banks explained that the designation brought together eight existing SSSIs with other areas that needed to be protected. This was either for wildlife reasons or because of geomorphologic features under the soil.

Farmers with newly-designated arable land would not face extra restrictions, he claimed.

“We’re not going to force producers to put arable land back into grass or anything like that,” he said. “As long as arable operations are not going to go more than 1m deep, most people can continue without any hassle from Natural England.”

But Mr Banks confirmed that producers would first need to get consent for their operations. This was referring to the list of 28 operations which farmers in the area have been told require permission. These include activities like ploughing, rotavating, spraying and, in some instances, shooting.

Beatrice Paine of John Paine Farms, Romney Marsh, questioned whether the agency had enough staff on the ground to give farmers the consents they need.

“The only way we can continue is to have a blanket consent,” she said. “Individual consents will be unworkable. It will be a total infringement of our civil liberties if this blanket consent is not forthcoming.”

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