Thursday 31 May 2012
Wales
Cuts to farm funding
A drastic 20% cut in agri-environment funding after 2014 is being proposed by Alun Davies.
The farming deputy minister said too much emphasis was placed on green farming in the EU- funded Rural Development Programme (RDP).
Instead priority will go to environmental protection, including climate change adaptation, and community renewal in the next RDP..
He said: “Currently the RDP has a near 80% focus on agri-environment measures.
Continuing in this vein would restrict opportunities to invest in other priorities, such as rural employment.
“I am therefore looking to reduce that focus to 60%, recognising the effect on farming incomes and environmental goals.”
With “difficult choices” to be made, Mr Davies also wants a presumption against EU funding for projects such as coastal and countryside access.
Also vetoed would be flood relief and renewable energy schemes that do not support jobs and growth.
Shadow rural affairs minister Antoinette Sandbach said the planned cuts were “unacceptable” and placed a question mark over Glastir, the land management scheme.
She said: “While rural communities anxiously await the results of the Glastir review, this completely pre-empts it.”
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Source: dailypost
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