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Agriculture and land management must feature in flood defence policy Government policy on flood defence does not recognise agriculture, food production and land management, according to regional rural watchdog the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).
"In Suffolk's Alde and Ore estuaries alone, flooding of farmland would lead to the loss of £7m a year to the local economy and the loss of at least 65,000 tonnes of vegetable and potato production. "This country is not self-sufficient in most of these products, so we must import more if we cannot produce them ourselves. The permanent loss of up to 1687 hectares of farmland in Suffolk, just as world food supplies are becoming tight, would be a disaster." Mr Wise added: "We understand funding has to be more targeted but those involved with formulating a government policy on flood defence must begin to recognise the importance of land-based rural businesses, especially in light of increased population growth and climate change. Currently, the Environment Agency is only meeting its statutory requirements when implementing a government policy. This means it is not considering the economic contribution of food production and land-based businesses in any consultation process." "However, landowners should not be penalised by central government for this innovation. Defra budgets need to be maintained, not cut, as the overall costs of maintaining defences will continue to rise. If government maintains its commitment, landowners will be prepared to work with them to leverage in more local funding," added the CLA's Rob Wise. |
Contact Rob Wise
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A regional adviser who handles environmental issues affecting landowners, including implementation of the Water Framework Directive and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, waste, fly-tipping and agri-environment schemes, rural grants, coastal defences and coastal access. He will also be dealing with political matters at all levels of local, national and EU government.
Rob grew up on an arable farm in Suffolk and went on to work on farm policy in the U.S. government in Washington D.C. before returning to the UK where he worked in agricultural government relations before joining the CLA.
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