Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Hansard, 22 June 1992)

§ 6. Mr. Jonathan Evans
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on designating new environmentally sensitive areas in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. David Hunt
I am pleased to announce the designation of four new ESAs—Radnor and Anglesey by the end of this year, and Preseli and the Clwydian range by the end of next.

§ Mr. Evans
Is my right hon. Friend aware that his announcement will be very welcome in Radnor and, I hope, in Ynys Môn, which is represented by the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Mr. Jones)? Does my right hon. Friend agree that his announcement, when coupled with the common agriculture policy reform package announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, recognises the role of farmers in caring for our countryside? Will my right hon. Friend also confirm that adequate funding will be made available to back the ESA scheme so that farmers are encouraged to join it voluntarily?

§ Mr. Hunt
Yes. First, may I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who made strong representations—[Interruption.] I could stop there—on the importance of placing Radnor as a high priority in the designation of new ESAs? I agree that it is important for those from towns and cities, who come to view the beautiful countryside, to recognise that it is mainly due to the farming community that they are able to benefit from it. However, they must also recognise that they must pay. Therefore, I have allocated £2.5 million to cover those agreements in the coming year.

§ Mr. Ron Davies
May I welcome the Secretary of State's announcement, as far as it goes? Now is the time to develop a far more ambitious and comprehensive system of countryside management. May I press him on two points? First, will the rates payable under the four schemes that the right hon. Gentleman has announced today bear at least some resemblance to the scales that applied in 1986? The Secretary of State will know that those scales have not been uprated and that they have been severely eroded by inflation. Secondly, is it not time to recognise that all farmers throughout Wales should be entitled to the payments, because that is one way to prevent the intolerable level of surpluses from increasing and, at the same time, compensating farmers for the losses that they will incur as a result of CAP reform?

§ Mr. Hunt
The hon. Gentleman's question contains many important points. I recognise that it is vital to ensure that we have the right level of payments. However, one must view that against the overall level of resources available and I believe that the scale of payments announced today will more than meet the present requirements. It is always important to keep an eye on all the various schemes operating throughout Wales. Tir Cymen, the countryside stewardship scheme, is another important one which is getting under way. National parks also play an important part in our strategy.
My announcement will mean that 24 per cent. of rural Wales will be covered by the new ESAs, which comes on top of the schemes for the Cambrian mountains and the extension of the scheme for the Lleyn peninsula. We must 7 learn the lessons from all that when we decide on which way to proceed. However, I take on board the points that the hon. Gentleman has made.