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The Environment

4.3 Policy on Agriculture

The County's countryside relies largely (though not exclusively) on farming for the management and maintenance of its rural character. The relationship between planning and farming can sometimes be difficult given the increasing pressure on farmers to sell sites to supplement a declining income, and the need to protect the character of the countryside and the viability of urban areas.

Agriculture is still the predominant land-use in North Tipperary with 149,411 ha of land under agriculture. Of this, 12,322 ha are under tillage for crops, fruit and horticulture. A further 130,371 ha are used for hay, silage and pasture. The most important activity being dairying and cattle rearing with over 80% of the agricultural gross output being generated by dairy and cattle industries. Sheep account for nearly 136,309 animals in the County. (Source: Central Statistics Office (CSO) Census for Agriculture, 2000).

Agriculture, therefore, continues to play an important part in economic life, providing both direct and indirect employment, albeit of declining scale as is demonstrated in the 17% decline of those working in farming between 1986-1996. The estimated number of farms fell from 4,450 in 1991 to 3,659 in 2001. The challenge facing the Council is to facilitate the broadening of the rural economy while conserving the landscape, environment and natural diversity of the countryside. Without a sound economic and social base, many environmental objectives for the countryside will not be realised. The rural economy must be allowed to flourish in sustainable ways if the quality of the countryside is to be secured.

4.3.1 Key Issues for Policy on Agriculture

  1. Farm diversification and off-farm employment will require significant investment in the development of human resources;
  2. With the aim of retaining population in the rural area, particularly young people, the current service and infrastructure deficit will have to be addressed, particularly in villages and rural clusters;
  3. With increased intensification in some areas and afforestation in others the landscape and environment will be radically altered. Agriculture as an economic sector will face challenges to be environmentally sustainable;
  4. Climate change will see more agricultural land subject to winter flooding that will affect land usage;
  5. The area of greatest landscape change is probably agriculture and the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS) is a measure that provides some protection. REPS uptake is lowest where change is likely to be greatest;
  6. The impact of infrastructure in areas of high landscape value, particularly wind farms and telecommunication equipment;
  7. Impact of infrastructure in and adjacent to designated and proposed Natural Heritage Areas (pNHAs) and candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSACs);
  8. Increasing demand for recreation space but there is no national strategy on provision and no hierarchy of needs established. Agricultural land will be required to meet future needs;
  9. Agriculture in the past was responsible for the greatest loss of archaeological monuments. REPS at present provides some protection;
  10. Tourism & agri-tourism can contribute to rural development and farm diversification but are often not seen as such and their potential is not realised.

 

Policy ENV 9: Agriculture

It is the policy of the Council to protect the viability of farms and best quality land for agriculture and related uses. Proposals that are considered to have a negative impact on the viability of existing farms will not be favourably considered.

The growing trend towards one-off rural houses has resulted in new houses being located close to farms. This often gives rise to conflict between residents and farming practices. In view of the above, the Council requires a set back of 100m from existing farms for residential development. An exception may be made where the application is for a family member or from a farm worker. Chapters 5 and 8 set out the Council's policy guidelines in respect of non-agricultural development in rural areas.

Agriculture is the predominant rural land-use when considering competing claims of agricultural development and residential amenity in rural areas.

4.3.2 Agricultural Buildings

Policy ENV 10: Agricultural Buildings

It is the policy of the Council to require agricultural buildings to be designed, located and orientated in a manner that will minimise their environmental impact.

Part 3, Schedule 1 of the Planning and Development Regulations provides details of exemptions in relation to agricultural buildings. These exemptions do not however apply to farmyards that are within settlement boundaries.

Proposals for new agricultural buildings must take account of the following:

4.3.3 Rural Diversification

Policy ENV 11: Rural Diversification

It is the policy of the Council to encourage the development of alternative rural based enterprises where the following criteria are met:

  1. there is a proven need for the activity to be located in a rural area;
  2. buildings/works shall be designed, located and screened such that they will not detract from the rural character and appearance of the area;
  3. the activity will not detract from the amenities of the residents living in the area; and
  4. the activity will not impact on traffic safety or road capacity.

4.3.4 Recovery of Agricultural Waste

The Council has prepared by-laws under the Local Government (Water Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1990, Local Government ACT 1994, Local Government Act, 1994 (Bye-Laws) Regulations 1995, Local Government Act, 1994 (Bye-Laws) Regulations 1999, for the purpose of preventing or eliminating the entry of polluted matter to waters.

The Council in exercise of the powers conferred upon it by the above Act and Regulations, shall seek to implement the Bye-Laws in relation to agricultural activities; particularly in respect of

  1. (a) Storage and Management of Waste; and
  2. (b) Phosphate Control Measures,

in those parts of County as set out in the schedule attached to the Bye-laws

Under the provisions of Section 21(3) of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1990: -

In order to plan for the disposal of sludge effluent from agriculture, particularly intensive agriculture, the Council prepared a number of studies, including:

The Sludge Management Plan (Draft 2001) outlined that of the 152,292 tonnes of dry solids generated annually in North Tipperary, 97.7% is generated by agriculture. Cattle slurry accounts for 87.7% and pig slurry 0.05% of the total. The remaining sludges arise from industry, septic tanks, sheep, pigs, poultry and horses. Local Authority wastewater treatment plants account for 0.01% of total sludge arising.

The Council supports the recycling of these nutrients to agricultural land in accordance with good nutrient management practice, the use of Sewage Sludge in Agriculture Regulations (SI 148 1998 and SI 267 2001) and the Councils Sludge Management Plan.

55% of all river stretches analysed for the preparation of the County's Measures Report were identified as having elevated phosphorus levels.

Specific Objective: The Council will seek to improve river, lake and ground water quality in the County in association with the farm organisations and key interest groups

Policy ENV 12: Agricultural Waste

It is the policy of the Council to seek improvement in the management of livestock slurries. The Council will seek improvement in existing storage facilities where possible, and require high quality facilities for storage as part of new development. Applicants shall demonstrate the crop nutrient management requirement for the slurry. Applicants shall be required to comply with agricultural bylaws as they apply to North Tipperary.

Expansion of intensive agriculture, particularly where it would increase the areas of spread lands, in the sensitive areas such as river and lake catchment areas shall be discouraged until a better overall catchments balance is achieved between total nutrient supply and demand (as proposed in Chapter 8 of the Sludge Management Plan).

Nutrient management has significant implications for groundwater and river water quality. The water quality in the Suir and Shannon catchment, for example, has deteriorated in recent years. In terms of biological water quality there has been a steady decrease in the number of sites that are classified as unpolluted, dropping from 67.5% of sites in 1997 to 58.5% in 2001.

Policy ENV 13: Disposal of agricultural Waste

It is the policy of the Council to require adequate handling, storage, disposal of all effluent produced in and by agricultural rural based developments. The Council will have regard to the Sludge Management Plan for North Tipperary and Measures Report under the Phosphorous Regulations (SI No. 258 of 1998), as well as any national guidance in deciding upon such developments.

Note: The Sludge Management Plan is a subset of the Waste Management Plan for the Midlands Region which was adopted by the Council in 2000.

Policy ENV 14: Nutrient Management

It is the policy of the Council to utilise the legislation governing nutrient management planning and where necessary to require the preparation of nutrient management plan for the approval of the Authority.

Farmers must be aware of and comply with their responsibilities under the law and in particular:

4.3.4(i) Out Wintering Pads

There is a growing interest in earth bank tanks and wintering pads as a potential low cost solution to winter housing of animals. Planning permission is required for such development and a discharge licence is also required for the discharge of effluent to the tank and final treatment or spreading if required. The Council is aware that limited research has been carried out on this system in the Irish context. However, such systems will be considered where it can be demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the planning authority, that the proposed system will be designed to best available technology and that it will be maintained in perpetuity to a high standard.

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