Environment Agency price hike proposals anger industry

The NFU is vowing to fight the price hikes it says will affect farmers and growers involved in on-farm composting and those spreading materials such as compost to their land. 

Under the proposed changes a new system of standard permits will be introduced for waste management activities currently carried out using chargeable, notifiable exemptions. This will result in a ‘huge jump’ in fees, according to the NFU.

Changes include:

• A new permit for waste composting, which is currently free, with charges of £1,590 per application and a £760 annual subsistence fee.
• A new permit for landspreading waste, increasing costs from around £575 per application and a £434 renewal fee to £1,590 per application fee and a £760 annual subsistence fee.
• A proposed fee of £1,590 and £1,540 for application and subsistence for new permits covering on-farm anaerobic digestion plants.

The agency is, in addition, proposing to increases its baseline charges by one per cent, while there will be changes to the groundwater, water abstraction, IPPC and radioactive substances charging regimes.

It is also creating a new standard permit for disposing of sheep dip which has been treated with enzymes to destroy toxic compounds.

NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond said the union had ‘very strong concerns’ about the ‘substantial’ proposed price hikes for many farmers and growers ‘at a time when they can ill afford them’. He said the NFU had responded to the consultation ‘in the strongest terms’.

“There is a real fear that small-scale, commercial on-farm composting units will not be able to sustain the increase in charges and this could ultimately drive them out of business. This goes completely against Government policies which are supposed to be encouraging the addition of organic matter to farm soils,” he said.

He said the proposed sheep dip permit goes against the agency’s commitment to provide a worthwhile financial incentive for the environmentally-friendly act of treating sheep dip.

Higher charges for on-farm Anaerobic Digestion go against Government efforts to encourage farmers to reduce emissions and produce green, clean energy, he added.

An EA spokesperson stressed that the proposed changes had not yet been agreed.

“We recognise that times are hard,” she said. “That is why we have proposed limiting the increases for most of our charges to 1 per cent for 2010/11. This is well below projected inflation of 2.5 per cent.

“But we have only just finished consulting and until we have reviewed everyone’s feedback - including the NFUs - nothing has been set in stone.”

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