Farmers urged to check new proposals for NVZs

Defra still has to decide whether to make the whole of England an NVZ or amend the existing map.

But from Monday, it should be possible to find all the proposed possibilities online, in maps which are zoomable down to field level, along with explanation of the reasoning behind any changes and information on how to appeal.

The proposed changes will be notified by letters to affected farmers, due to go out on June 18. But there will then be only 28 days left to appeal.

The NFU’s regional environment and land use adviser, Laurie Norris, is urging farmers to take advantage of the online notification to give themselves a head start on the official countdown.

She said: “It is really important that farmers take advantage of this early opportunity to see if they could be affected.

“It’s possible Defra may go for whole territory designation, in which case no appeals would be possible.

“However, if we see the same approach as in previous years, with individual areas identified, farmers that want to appeal must take this opportunity to get a head start as for most the statutory 28 days will not be enough to prepare a case.”

The maps can be accessed online at the Environment Agency’s website via http://tinyurl.com/c6naelw or through the NFU via http://tinyurl.com/85cwd79/

NVZs are a European requirement, designed to cut pollution of rivers and coastal waters.

Farmers within them are subject to restrictions on storage and spreading of fertiliser, muck and silage, and existing NVZs have swallowed a lot of money in investment in new slurry storage.