AGRICULTURE
43. Agriculture accounts for about three-quarters
of the land area of England, but it is not subject to the control
of the planning system. The planting of winter wheat which became
increasingly common in the 1970s, MAFF grants for land drainage
and the ploughing up of meadows have all had an impact on flood
risk. The Council for the Protection of Rural England told us:
"Extensive ploughing
of meadows, land drainage, field enlargement and other land management
practises can all significantly increase flood risk. The ploughing
of meadows in the Wye Valley in Herefordshire for potatoes, for
example, has had a major impact. Since 1992 England has lost over
1,200 sq, km. of permanent grassland to more intensive land management
or urban development".[59]
The National Farmers Union argued that many of the
points made in articles in the national media suggesting agricultural
practices have been responsible for this year's floods were inaccurate,
but noted that "declining farm incomes and consequent restructuring
can not be disassociated from the extensive problems caused by
grazing upland habitats".[60]
44. The difficult question is what to do about damaging
agricultural practices, especially in view of the low level of
current farm incomes. One thing we can be certain about is the
need to apply the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive to
agriculture. This would require farmers to undertake an environmental
impact assessment in certain circumstances where they intend to
change the use of their land. It has applied for several years
to many types of development, but MAFF has managed to delay its
implementation for 15 years as the Minister for Agriculture and
the Countryside told the House on the 24 November. He has promised
to bring forward regulations in the new year. It is salutary
to consider that a contributory cause of the recent floods may
have been the determination of MAFF over many years not to implement
the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. This is a grave
condemnation of this Ministry. We welcome the statement by the
Minister for Agriculture and the Countryside that these regulations
will now be issued. This must be done as a matter of urgency.
45. Environmental Impact Assessments can have little
effect on the large amount of land already altered by the farming
practices of the late 20th century. In previous reports we have
stressed the advantages of cross-compliance, whereby a condition
of the grant of production subsidies would be the enforcement
of environmental standards. For instance it would be possible
to ensure that rain water was retained on the farm. In addition
further agri-environment grants could be given to support sustainable
agricultural measures such as the re-creation of washlands. The
National Farmers Union informed the Committee that it was considering
proposals which will provide more sustainable flood defence and
flood storage on farmland:
"It may be possible
with adequate funding to re-create riparian wetlands. These could
act as flood storage, de-synchronise farm run-off, increase acquifer
recharge, have a biodiversity benefit and act as a barrier to
diffuse pollution".[61]
We recommend that cross-compliance measures be
introduced to ensure that, where appropriate, rain water is retained
on the farm. In addition the system of subsidies to farmers should
be re-directed from production to encourage farming practices
which retain water on the flood plain and slow down runoff from
the uplands.
46. The Rural White Paper seeks to encourage farm
diversification and the re-use of old farm buildings. Our concern
is that such changes could increase the risk of flooding, for
example if such changes are accompanied by the creation of hard
surfaces for car parking. Proposals for changing the use of farm
buildings could have consequences for flooding. We recommend that
the Environment Agency be consulted about such proposals.
Conclusion
47. The matter this report addresses is important
and likely to become more important. Climate change threatens
to make flooding a more common occurrence. Before the middle of
this century the Thames barrier will no longer be able to sustain
its present standard of protection.[62]
The costs of providing flood protection will be substantial and
will continue to rise. The changes we have advocated to the planning
system and to agriculture must be made as a matter of urgency.
A final version of the PPG should be issued with dispatch.
39 FP02. Back
40 Eg.
see FP19, FP13 and FP20. Back
41 FP07.
The Minister told us that he was considering whether to bring
electrical installations within the scope of the Building Regulations. Back
42 FP19. Back
43 Draft
PPG 25, para 24. Back
44 FP19. Back
45 This
is beginning to happen; eg.the City of York Council and councils
and National Parks in North Yorkshire are preparing a Joint Structure
Plan to address the interaction between flooding and land use
planning. Back
46 FP07. Back
47 Q102;
and see FP08 Back
48 Draft
PPG, para 45. Back
49 Q115. Back
50 Draft
PPG, para 17. Back
51 Placing
the maps on the Internet has proved very useful. The Environment
Agency informed us on the 8 December that its homepage had "received
around 60,000 yesterday. Compare this with the usual daily total
number of hits to the whole site which ...was 12,000 before the
October floods began". Back
52 See
FP06 (English Nature) and FP15 (RSPB). Back
53 Draft
PPG, para 38. Back
54 FP02. Back
55 FP10 Back
56 FP03. Back
57 FP10A. Back
58 For
a local authority's concern about permitted development, see FP12. Back
59 FP03 Back
60 FP14. Back
61 FP14. Back
62 QQ66-7.
The Environment Agency stated that "Preliminary investigations
indicate that the continued provision of a 1 in 1000 defence standard
to the year 2100 is feasible but modifications of the Thames barrier
and other defences will be required". (FP10A). Back
