LDNPP: 5 March 2012
Agenda item no. 4(a)
LAKE DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK PARTNERSHIP
FARMING AND FORESTRY TASK FORCE
Notes of the fourth meeting of the Task Force on 1 February 2012
1.
Introduction/welcome
See Annex 1 for list of attendees and apologies.
Bob Cartwright welcomed everyone, including Philip Grant, Deputy
Campus Principal of Newton Rigg College. Philip was representing Wes
Johnston, the Campus Principal, who had been invited to join the Task
Force.
2.
Notes of meeting on 5 October 2011
Received as an accurate summary. Andrew Herbert noted the bid for a
Nature Improvement Area pilot in the Bassenthwaite and Ullswater
catchments had been unsuccessful. The steering group was considering
ways in which the objectives of the pilot could be taken forward, albeit
without the financial support a successful bid would have generated. A bid
for an NIA in the Morecambe Bay area had got through to the next round.
He also noted the successful bid for money to develop a Local Nature
Partnership in Cumbria. He suggested a more detailed report to the next
meeting.
Action: Andrew Herbert to report on the Local Nature Partnership at
the next meeting
3.
Uplands Policy Review
David Wilford (Defra) attended the meeting at the Task Force’s request to
provide an overview of current government thinking on uplands policy.
The government remains committed to helping create a more sustainable
future for the uplands: supporting hill farmers; delivering public goods from
the upland environment; and supporting sustainable upland communities.
There will be an uplands theme in the new Rural Development
Programme for England; additional funding for farmers in severely
disadvantaged areas to enter the Upland Entry Level Scheme; and
Richard Macdonald, who led the Farming Regulation Task Force, is
heading up the delivery of its recommendations.
In thinking about better integrating farming and forestry policy and
practice, reference was made to emerging thinking from the Independent
Forestry Panel in integrating the England Woodland Grant Scheme with
the Environmental Stewardship Scheme.
David and Simon re-affirmed Natural England’s commitment to work
cooperatively with land managers and stakeholders. The CAP review will
introduce areas of natural constraint (ANCs). Defra is working to ensure
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Agenda item no. 4(a)
these reflect the characteristics of our uplands and their issues, including
the importance of hefting on commons.
Future priorities would include:
 making payments for ecosystem services a reality.
 Resource management on a catchment scale – supporting
practical carbon and water management.
 High speed broadband and mobile telephony.
 Localism – more powers to local communities.
 Achieving the right balance between food production, environment
and people. But increasingly this would involve local determination
of priorities, including on such issues as sustainable intensification.
In an earlier conversation with the farmers, David and Simon had heard
concerns about uncertainties surrounding transfer from ESA to
Environmental Stewardship, the effect of losing hefted flocks and the
difficulties in balancing off-wintering obligations with livestock quality and
welfare. It was suggested that practical examples of land in favourable
condition (in Natural England’s terms) and other ‘public goods’ would help
farmers understand the outcomes to which they and ecologists should
jointly aspire. David felt it would also be helpful if Defra/NE could be
appraised of any literature on hefting culture and practices.
4.
Rare Breed
Rob Fraser introduced this project, which celebrates the cultural
importance of upland farmers, their families and others, through
photography and words. The project had received widespread support,
including from the National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development
Fund and was hoping to exhibit widely. There was the prospect of a book
and an education pack as well as on-line material. The Cumbria Farmers
Network is actively involved but Rob welcomed further participation and
distributed contact information.
Action: Task Force members to contact Rob Fraser if they wished to
participate in the project.
5.
Rural road maintenance
Peter Allan attended the meeting in response to a concern raised by the
Task Force about the County Council’s policy on maintaining roads to
farms or forests, which were vital to business viability. Peter explained the
Council’s wider policies and priorities and the implications of bringing the
previously outsourced service in-house.
Policies on specific roads were subject to a general duty and responsibility
to maintain safe passage for users, but he would be willing to discuss
particular cases outside the meeting. Task Force members suggested a
need for greater clarity on responsibility for maintenance within the
highway boundary, particularly ditches and tree management.
Action: Peter Allan to liaise directly with John Fryer Spedding about
specific issues at Brundholme Woods.
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Agenda item no. 4(a)
6.
Red Squirrels Northern England
Nick Mason explained the purpose of the project was to control grey
squirrels across Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham and North Yorkshire
as means of protecting the vulnerable population of red squirrels. With the
benefit of Biffaward funding the project was recruiting several squirrel
management officers in priority areas across the region, working closely
with private and public owners and with volunteer groups. Monitoring
action and effect was essential to the project’s success and Nick
encouraged the Task Force to promote the project’s work and work with it.
Contact details were shared.
7.
Iggesund
Neil Watkins described the ethos of Iggesund as part of the international
Holmen Group in producing paper and paperboard from its plant at
Workington. The plant has an objective to be carbon-neutral and is
currently installing a biomass energy system. Neil is actively engaged in
identifying sites throughout the region to supply fuel and would welcome
approaches from Task Force members or contact from interested
landowners.
8.
Independent Forestry Panel
Bob noted that the visit to Cumbria had been confirmed as 7 March 2012.
Keith Jones had established a small planning group of Task Force
members (Ian Jack, Graham Gill, Ed Mills, Jack Ellerby, Bob Cartwright)
plus Richard Palmer of Jenkinson’s to develop a provisional programme
and itinerary to put to the Panel’s secretariat. The group would be meeting
on 2 February.
The thrust of the visit was to be around rural development and economic
growth associated with woodland and forestry and the geographical focus
would be Penrith and the north eastern part of the National Park. The
Task Force agreed that the chair of the Lake District Local Access Forum
should be invited to the visit.
Action: Bob Cartwright to report the outcome of the planning group’s
meeting to the Task Force after the 2 February meeting.
9.
Priority Issues for inclusion in the next Partnership’s Plan
The Task Force received a paper prepared by Helen Forrester (NFU) as
the lead for this action in the Partnership’s Plan (Action 6). The Task Force
noted the current Partnership’s Plan contains a number of specific priority
actions, which the Task Force agrees are important. It welcomed the
Partnership’s commitments and urged it to deliver them by the stated
deadlines. For example, the Task Force felt it important to have a
Woodland Strategy for the National Park in place by December 2012
(Action 7B).
The Task Force acknowledged, however, that some slippage would be
inevitable in certain areas: it would be difficult for Natural England, for
example, to deliver a meaningful report on possible funding options post2014 in respect of the review of the Common Agricultural Policy (Action
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Agenda item no. 4(a)
5A) due to delays in the review itself. Similarly, the Task Force was not in
a position to prepare a report to the Partnership on the value of livestock in
the National Park (post-2014) (Action 5B).
3.3
In considering future Partnership’s Plan issues to be addressed to support
farming and forestry, the Task Force recommended the following priority
actions:
i.
Profitable Farming and Forestry: The commissioning, by the
Partnership, of a professional assessment of the existing profitability of
the farming and forestry industries in the National Park and future
prospects within the context of protecting and enhancing the Lake
District’s special qualities. Such a report, it was suggested, should
assess the risks and opportunities presented in terms of wholebusiness profitability, not just the economics of livestock or timber
production. Thus it could take account of the expected impact of
changes in Environmental Stewardship agreements, and the
opportunities and constraints on diversification, as well as market
fluctuations.
ii.
Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy: This would roll forward
Action 5A from the current Plan with an amended deadline of March
2013.
iii.
Farming and Forestry’s contribution to a Low-carbon Lake
District™: Potentially forming part of 3.3i, this would assess the
potential for every farming and forestry business to be a net energy
exporter through the use of renewable technology.
iv.
The Lake District on a Plate: This would roll forward and develop
Action 15A in the current Plan to support sustainable food and drink
across the National Park. Greater cooperation between local tourism
businesses, farmers and foresters would give visitors (and the local
community) every opportunity to ‘taste the view’.
v.
Housing Availability and Succession: The farming and forestry
communities believe that the unaffordability of local housing for local
people is a major barrier to business succession from one generation
to the next. This issue could be addressed by rolling forward Actions
23, 24 and 25 in the current Plan, which all relate to developing and
delivering balanced employment and housing opportunities that enable
people to live and work in the community.
Action: Bob Cartwright to prepare a report for the Partnership’s
meeting on 5 March 2012 recommending these actions as priorities
for the next iteration of the Partnership’s Plan.
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LDNPP: 5 March 2012
6.
Agenda item no. 4(a)
Matters for future meetings:
The next meeting is on 6 June 2012. The Task Force will receive and
consider reports on the agreed priorities as they evolve.
The Task Force agreed that the agenda for this meeting had been a little
‘top heavy’ in the number of presentations given. All were interesting, but
with other important issues to discuss we hadn’t done justice to all topics;
opportunities for questions and conversation were curtailed. We agreed to
aim for no more than three presentations from speakers at future
meetings.
Provisionally the next agenda will therefore include presentations on:
 Testing ecosystem services funding: the Bassenthwaite Vital Upland
Project: Jane Lusardi, Natural England
 Affordable Housing for people in farming and forestry: Paula Allen,
LDNPA
 Local Nature Partnership: Andrew Herbert, LDNPA
A future meeting will consider:
 Deer management: Ed Mills, Cumbria Woodlands
 The impact of the Localism Act and the role of the NPA in encouraging
working together: Steve Ratcliffe, LDNPA.
 Access management: Mark Eccles, LDNPA.
7.
Date of next meeting:
6 June 2012 at 6.00 p.m. at the Lake District Visitor Centre, Brockhole.
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Agenda item no. 4(a)
Annex 1
Lake District Farming and Forestry Task Force: 1 February 2012
Attending Farmers’ Meeting with David Wilford, Head of Defra’s Uplands
at 4.00 p.m.
Total attending (14)
NAME
Chris Brown
Bob Cartwright
Anne Casey
Andrew Herbert
Neil Johnson
Will Cockbain
Mark Eccles
John Hayton
Sam Hodgson
Simon Humphries
Will Rawling
Joe Relph
Carl Walters
David Wilford
ORGANISATION
Deepdale Hall
LDNPA (Chair)
LDNPA
LDNPA
National Trust
NFU
LDNPA
LDNPA
Glencoyne Farm
Natural England
Cumbria Farmers Network
Yew Tree Farm, Borrowdale
Cumbria Farmers Network
Defra
Apologies: (4)
Ken Bell
Everley Buckley
Dan Hunt
Ken Pears
Loweswater Care Project
CLA
Natural England
Caldbeck Commoners
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LDNPP: 5 March 2012
Agenda item no. 4(a)
Attending: Farming & Forestry Task Force at 6.00 p.m. (27)
Peter Allan
Chris Brown
Gareth Browning
Bob Cartwright
Anne Casey
Will Cockbain
Mark Eccles
Jack Ellerby
Helen Forrester
Rob Fraser
John Fryer-Spedding
Philip Grant
John Hayton
Andrew Herbert
Sam Hodgson
Doug Howieson
Simon Humphries
Ian Jack
Neil Johnson
Nick Mason
Edward Mills
Will Rawling
Joe Relph
Harriet Sharkey
Carl Walters
Neil Watkins
Dave Wilford
CCC (item 5)
Deepdale Hall
Forestry Commission
LDNPA (Chair)
LDNPA
NFU
LDNPA
FLD
NFU
Rare Breed (item 4)
Mirehouse
Deputy Campus Principal, Newton Rigg
LDNPA
LDNPA
Glencoyne Farm
Forestry Commission
Natural England
Lowther Estates
National Trust
RSNE (item 6)
Cumbria Woodlands
Cumbria Farmers Network
Yew Tree Farm, Borrowdale
Rare Breed (item 4)
Federation of Cumbrian Commoners
Iggesund
Defra (item 3)
Apologies: (12)
Ken Bell
Everley Buckley
Peter Irving
Wes Johnson
Keith Jones
Terry McCormick
Trevor Marsh
Ken Pears
Steve Ratcliffe
Myles Sandys
Robert Sheasby
Stephen Swailes
Loweswater Care Project
CLA
Hutton Roof Sawmills
Newton Rigg
Forestry Commission
ACT
Environment Agency
Caldbeck Commoners
LDNPA
Graythwaite Estate
NFU
Iggesund
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