Draft Agricultural Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020
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To Whom it May Concern The Laois-Offaly Branch of the Irish Wildlife Trust wishes to state its opposition to the proposed amendments to the Draft Agricultural Bill. We ask for the Minister to abandon the current draft bill as any move to limit the public's say in matters effecting communities, flooding and the wider environment is wholly unacceptable! Urgent reform is required within the Irish forestry sector and making it easier to rush through bad forestry schemes is not in the interest of Irish people. Yours sincerely To Whom it Concerns, As Nursery Manager for None So Hardy Nurseries I wish to state my full support for the proposed amendment to the Agriculture Appeals Act, to Align the Forestry licencing and appeals processes with similar planning processes. I have been involved in the nursery business for 30 years and I can safely say I have never seen as big a threat not only to our business but to the entire industry. It is clear to all concerned that the current licencing system is unfit for purpose, it is also clear that the current Forest Appeals Committee is not fit for purpose. Currently None So Hardy employ up to 85 people and we supply up to 90% of the planting stock for the Afforestation programme. We currently have sufficient stock for the 20/21 planting season, the 21/22 planting season and the 22/23 planting season, If the current stalemate is allowed to continue we will be forced to destroy millions of trees and close our business. Without our nursery there is no plant supply for the proposed afforestation programme of 8,000 Ha/ annum, there is no plant supply for our Native woodlands Scheme and we will completely fail in our Carbon Sequestration commitments. Yours sincerely John Kavanagh. o whom it may concern, Dunne's Sawmills is a business in South Tipperary that supplies a range of timber products to our farming and construction based customers. Recently it has become more and more difficult to source material from forests and products from the bigger sawmills around the country due to the backlog of felling licences caused by serial objectors. This is an email expressing our support for the Agricultural Appeals Amendment Bill 2020 for the following reasons; Head 3 The proposal for the Chairperson of the FAC to issue an annual report is welcome. A key focus of the report should be on a time scale for a decision on all appeals. It is critical that appeals should be processed within 60 days from the date of submission. In 2018 40% of appeals took over 53 weeks to determine (Mac Kinnon November 2019). This is completely unacceptable. Sufficient staffing and a strict time scale are required to ensure an efficient and credible appeals system. Head 4 The introduction of a deputy chairperson is welcome. The FAC being able to sit in divisions of itself without the need for a Chairperson will result in a greater throughput of appeals and with an overall improvement in the time scale for a decision. The ability of the minister to deputize ordinary members of the Forestry Appeals Committee is welcome and should result in greater efficiency. The FAC needs sufficient staff to deal with the level of appeals being received. The staffing should be at a level to allow an appeal to be processed in 60 days. The introduction of a fee for a person to make an appeal is essential to operate an efficient appeals system. Head 5 The proposal to introduce fees is welcome. It is essential that fees cover a submission – the initial consultation period when a license application is submitted to the DAFM and also an appeal – the consultation period following the issuing of a license. The fees structure should be in line with the planning process. We welcome the amendment where the Chairperson of the FAC can decide based on the merits of the case submitted to determine an appeal without an oral hearing. This will greatly improve the timescale to a decision and improve the overall efficiency of the FAC. Dunne's Sawmills welcomes the amendment for the issuing of ministerial directives to the FAC. I'm making a submission in opposition to the proposed draft Agriculture Appeals (Amendement) Bill 2020 for the reasons outlined below: a) The Bill, in part, seeks to limit by way of definition of the term 'relevant person' the right to appeal decisions of the Minister or officer of the Minister. b) The Bill, in part, seeks to define 'environmental body' by the time period of which the organisation has been in existence. The forestry application process, similar to other application processes to government bodies in Ireland, has resulted in many failures including badly sited forestry and lack of diversity. The Mackinnon reports states that there has been a rise in the number of submissions on afforestation applications and while this is true the number of applications has also increased so that the ratio of submissions to applications has shown little change over the last three years: 2017: Submissions to Applications: 2:1 2018: Submissions to Applications: 2.78:1 2019: Submissions to Applications: 2: 1 The report highlights many failings in the application process, the pre-consultation process and the confidence/training/scientific knowledge of the inspectors. If these areas were addressed adequately and the process became more balanced in its approach it would likely result in a reduction in the number of submissions to applications. However until this competence is established there should be no limitation to the definition of relevant person or environmental body. Additionally by trying to define 'relevant person' in terms of proximity (adjacent) to the land to which the application relates, may eliminate persons where projects can impact hydrologically miles downstream or where there may be cumulative impacts from projects which do not arise directly from an adjacent/proximity influence but nevertheless will have an impact. Please review the forestry process instead of limiting the rights and affordability of access to appeal & justice. Kelly Barna and Barna Buildings Good afternoon, I am Managing Director of Kelly Barna and Barna Buildings that are involved in the manufacture of garden sheds and garden buildings to the Irish market and Northern Ireland. We have contracts with both Woodies and B&Q and are currently the largest manufacturer of sheds in Ireland. I am concerned at recent reports about the backlogs in the State’s forestry licensing and appeals system. This risks pushing the timber industry into crisis, endangering jobs in our industry. This will directly impact on our business and the livelihoods of our 30 employees. If we cannot get supply of timber then we will not be able to keep our contracts with B&Q and Woodies and they will just import sheds from the UK and we will go out of business. I understand that there are long delays to licenses caused by the FAC. At the current run rate, it will take 18 months to clear the backlog of licenses with the FAC. It is clear that the FAC simply cannot cope with the workload. The changes to the legislation included in the draft bill should help this situation providing the FAC is adequately and quickly resourced. It is vital that the FAC is reformed to make it fit for purpose. In summary, I would like my support of the draft legislation to be noted. Regards, 27th August 2020 Draft Agricultural Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020 SUBMISSION TO PUBLIC CONSULTATION SUBMISSION MADE TO: [email protected] H HARKIN PLANT HIRE LTD SUBMISSION FROM: H HARKIN PLANT HIRE LTD CARRICK DERRYBEG LETTERKENNY CO DONEGAL PH 087 2538258 /2203384 [email protected] Draft Agricultural Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020 August 2020 1. Managed Forestry in Ireland Managed forestry is a fast growing, green industry which provides rural jobs, contributes to climate action, facilitates tourism and recreation and produces technologically advanced timber and biofuel products. The industry, which is managed to the highest European standards, makes a €2.3 billion contribution to the Irish economy and supports 12,000 jobs. H Harkin Plant Hire Ltd is proud to be delivering and growing quality jobs, especially in our rural communities. We provide 28 jobs in Co Donegal making a significant contribution to both direct and indirect employment and the local economy. Forestry has the potential to significantly contribute to Ireland’s obligations to mitigate climate change and provides valuable habitats for biodiversity and nature, along with important ecosystem services such as water quality and flood protection. The formation of a new government, together with an important and ambitious Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, paves the way for policy formation, legislation and change. We will always seek to engage positively with Government into the future and we note in particular that forestry can play an important role across so many of the objectives laid out in the Programme for Government. 2. Current crisis At present, the forestry industry is at crisis point. Since the introduction of new forestry licensing procedures in 2019, the processing and issuing of forestry licences have been seriously impacted. There has been widespread disruption across the forestry sector. Currently, felling license approvals are only at 20% of the required rate; consequently, the industry is being starved of the necessary timber supplies. The potential impact is severe, both financially and with respect to jobs as sawmills will run out of timber within months unless the current impasse is resolved. The severity of the situation is underscored even further when the impact of Covid- 1 | P a g e <INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE> Draft Agricultural Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020 August 2020 19 is considered as unemployment soars nationally and the numbers on the Live Register remain high here in CO DONEGAL.