Powys farmer ploughs protected field

16 March 1998

Powys farmer ploughs protected field

THE Countryside Council for Wales has called for greater protection of nature reserves after tenant farmer Wynn Evans destroyed an important wildflower field.

Mr Evans claimed he ploughed and re-seeded the wet pasture in the Conwy valley, Powys, because Severn Trent Water, its owner, did not tell him it was protected.. He said he took over the tenancy of the field from his father and there was nothing in the agreement about a site of special scientific interest (SSSI).

Friends of the Earth disclosed the destruction of the pasture which grew several rare species.

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, landowners are not required to inform their tenants that fields form part of an SSSI.

• The Daily Telegraph 16/03/98 page 10