Core Objectives

In addition to our wide range of activities we will focus on the following objectives.

Defending private property rights in England and Wales and insisting on compensation when private property rights are diminished in any way:
We will campaign to minimise the impact of statutory public access provisions and promote the benefits of an incentive-led voluntary approach whether this is access to coastal areas, rivers or woodland.

Championing the profitability of rural businesses:
CLA constantly reminds policy makers that the basic building block of the rural economy must be profitable farming and forestry and other rural businesses. Many strands of our work have this aim in mind. For example, we seek: reductions in red tape; planning and tax regimes which stimulate rural economic development; the removal of obstacles to the development of new business lines such as land-based renewable energy.

Promoting the role of CLA members in delivering landscape, biodiversity and mitigating climate change:
CLA has worked hard to prepare for the battle to make the case that only farmers can deliver food and environmental security. 2010 will be the year when we have to really score with our arguments in Whitehall, Westminster, Cardiff, Brussels and with the public at large.

THREATS TO PRIVATE LANDOWNERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

CLA understands the threats to private landowners better than anyone else and that these threats are not confined to the largest estates. Those who have newly acquired land whether for agricultural, business, recreational or residential use, as well as those who have years of experience, all need the very best advice available and, above all, an influential voice to represent their interests. The CLA is that voice. Nobody is doing more to manage the impact on the value of land, both in the short and long term.

1. Access: In less than a decade we have seen how a right of access to commons, mountains, moors, heaths and downs has been extended to a right of access to the English coastline. Already there are calls for the right to be extended for the benefit of other groups, such as horse riders and trail bikers, and to other land including woods and rivers. The CLA is the only organisation that can be consistently relied upon to defend the rights of all rural property owners against these threats.
2. Business rates: The number of organisations calling for the exemptions from local taxation enjoyed by certain rural businesses is increasing. The CLA will continue to argue why it is in everyone’s interests that the status quo should be maintained.
3. British farming under pressure: Despite countless visions and strategies produced by Government agencies, the fundamentals of farming are unchanged. Identifying and working to remove the obstacles to profitable farming and rural business is our key aim. CLA advisers will be working closely to ensure a smooth introduction of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment and the industry’s voluntary carbon reduction plan. We will also be working on new ideas for sustainable upland farming.
4. Planning controls: The CLA knows the difficulties members can face when trying to diversify or expand a rural business; the planning system can represent quite a hurdle to overcome. The CLA is active at every level of the planning system in making sure that the needs of rural business are taken into account; from persuading government to acknowledge the positive benefits that appropriately scaled, well designed, rural development can bring, to explaining to individual authorities the damage that well meant but ill-considered policies can cause.
5. Rewilding: The number of organisations wanting to rewild the countryside, by both taking land out of production and allowing it to revert to nature, and by reintroducing long extinct species, is increasing. Projects to bring back sea eagles and beavers are already underway. Whilst certain proposals may have merit, the CLA will continue to insist that the interests of rural land managers are properly taken into account.
6. Flood and coastal erosion: The limitations on the rights of landowners to protect their land against erosion from the sea and inland flooding have increased significantly in recent years. A combination of planning controls and Environment Agency regulations are working against the interests of the individual landowner. The CLA will continue to work with the various statutory bodies to ensure that these private rights are protected.