Inadequate Consultation on Land Improvement Consent Proposal Will Lead to Bad Regulation – IFA

IFA Rural Development Chairman Tom Turley has criticised both the Departments of Agriculture and the Environment for their failure to provide adequate information and consultation regarding the proposal to introduce a new planning regime for on-farm improvements.

Mr Turley, speaking after a presentation given by Planning Minister Willie Penrose TD, to the joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment said, “Minister Penrose and Minister Coveney are determined to plough ahead and introduce draconian legislation which will ignore existing obligations and impose additional layers of cost and compliant measures and further sterilise productive farm land.”

Tom Turley added, “Farmers have a good environmental record, planting over 10,000km of hedgerows, building 3,000km of stonewalls, planting 1 million broadleaf trees, spending over €2bn to bring farms up to the highest environmental standards and in 2010 recycled over 20,000 tonnes of farm plastic. These facts must be considered if any legislation is to be introduced.”