CSS Clarification

The rollout of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme has not been the smoothest, and a number of queries are still awaiting answers.  These including the position on ‘dual use’ situations.   However, Natural England has provided some clarification in other areas;

• Under the management of hedgerow option BE3 – One third of hedges can be cut once every three years between periods 1^st January – 28^th February or 1^st September – 31^st December respectively or 50% of hedges can be cut once every two years between 1^st January – 28^th February.
• All land to be included in a CSS application needs to be registered on the Rural Land Register.  This includes areas of ‘white space’ land, for example farm yards for capital items.  An RLE1 must be submitted. Ensure to write Countryside Stewardship on the front and tick the Rural Development box.
• The 5 Ha minimum area for Mid Tier Organic applications is to be removed. Applications will still need to meet the minimum value of £5,000 over the 5 years.

The latest CSS Manual can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/454762/cs-manual-print-version.pdf . Further guidance on record keeping and evidence required for some of the options is expected to be published by the end of August.