Occupying nearly 80% of the area of Great Britain, agriculture exerts a major influence on the country's environment. Reciprocally, many infrastructure or built developments impact on agricultural practices.

Farming patterns exert a major influence on the habitats and landscape of the countryside

Environmental Impacts of Agriculture

Perceptions of what constitutes 'the environment' vary but the wildlife and countryside agencies consider the environment from seven different aspects. Each of these is impacted upon by agriculture. The seven aspects are listed below, together with examples of how agriculture and environment interact.

Contact us at:

k.taylor@asken.co.uk

The adverse effects of agriculture have been the focus of much public debate of late. Emphasis has also been given to the amount farmers receive in public subsidy. Some argue that this gives the public a say in how the land should be managed. Understanding the relationship between how agricultural policy affects land management is fundamental to improving the environmental track record of agriculture. Attempts are underway to bring SSSIs in unfavourable condition into more favourable condition by changing the way land is managed – particularly sheep grazing. Asken has worked with ecologists from Penny Anderson Associates for United Utilities to prepare management plans to do just this, and for Staffordshire County Council at Cannock Chase.

Impacts of Developments on Agriculture

However, the change of the application of PPG7 with respect to Best and Most Versatile land, announced by the Planning Minister, represents a ‘softening’ of the line on agricultural impacts, but also widens the scope of factors that need to be taken into account (a shift towards a more ‘sustainability-oriented’ approach). Asken is working with Entec (for Defra) to examine the weight placed on the need by local planning authorities to protect BMV land when considering planning applications.

Identifying suitable mitigation measures to reduce the impact of the development requires expert knowledge of farming operations, an appreciation of the other factors that influence design decisions, and an ability to accurately portray the findings often with only limited information.

Ecosystem Services

A piece of jargon that is coming into more widespread use, ecosystem services are the outputs from the natural environment on which we depend for our existence - water, fresh air, soil, rain, materials, protection and many more. Amongst these services are those that enable people to recreate in the outdoors - to walk, ride, cycle etc. In effect, it is another way of recognising the value of the countryside and to justify the protection and enhancement of its infrastructure, including rights of way and open access land.

How can Asken help?

Asken director, Ken Taylor, has 10 years' experience of advising farmers on how to manage their farms and so is able to view issues from the farmer's perspective. He has also spent over 20 years advising public sector and corporate clients on agricultural matters and how these affect their interests. Ken has acted as agricultural specialist on a number of major development projects, most recently in the case of proposed developments of major rail-road freight interchanges - one near Manchester and another near Doncaster.

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