Northern Ireland Assembly Flax Flower Logo

FORESTRY BILL


NOTICE OF AMENDMENTS TABLED ON
19 APRIL 2010
FOR CONSIDERATION STAGE

Clause 1 , Page 1, Line 5

After ‘promoting’ insert ‘afforestation and sustainable’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 1 , Page 1, Line 5

At end insert -

‘(1A) The Department must carry out that duty -
(a) in relation to forestry land, in such a way as to promote and encourage the enjoyment and recreational use of that land by the public; and
(b) in relation to other forests, in such a way as to promote the social benefits of those forests.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 1 , Page 1, Line 9

Leave out ‘the development of afforestation,’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 1 , Page 1, Line 11

Leave out ‘forestry land’ and insert ‘forests’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 1 , Page 1, Line 12

After ‘environment’ insert ‘, biodiversity and the mitigation of, or adaptation to, climate change’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 1 , Page 1, Line 12

Leave out from ‘and’ to end of line 13

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 2 , Page 2, Line 9

At end insert -

‘( ) make, on such terms and conditions as the Department thinks fit, payments for the purpose of forestry management;’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 4 , Page 2, Line 39

Leave out subsections (2) and (3)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 5 , Page 3

Leave out lines 6 and 7 and insert -

‘, whether for a limited period or otherwise, for the purposes of, or in connection with, providing or improving access to any land so as to facilitate the carrying out of any of its functions under this Act.

(1A) The power of acquiring land compulsorily under subsection (1) includes power to acquire, by the creation of a new right, an easement or other right over land.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 6 , Page 3, Line 25

At end insert -

‘(2A) The Department -

(a) shall provide and maintain a register providing such information as the Department considers appropriate as to the location and size of woodlands in Northern Ireland and the types of trees therein;
(b) shall publish that register in such form as the Department thinks appropriate at intervals not exceeding 10 years;
(c) may exercise the powers in subsection (1)(b) and (c) in connection with the provision or maintenance of that register.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 7 , Page 4, Line 2

Leave out from beginning to ‘particular’ in line 4 and insert ‘For the purpose of the exercise of its functions under this Part,’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 7 , Page 4, Line 10

At end insert -

‘(4) The power under subsection (2)(a) is exercisable for the purposes of the exercise of the functions of the Department under section 4(1) only with the approval of DFP.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 8 , Page 4, Line 15

Leave out ‘wild animals’ and insert ‘deer or hares (other than Irish hares)’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 8 , Page 4, Line 17

Leave out from ‘either’ to ‘purposes’ in line 18 and insert ‘forest’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 8 , Page 4, Line 20

Leave out ‘at any time, kill, take or destroy any wild animals’ and insert ‘take, kill or destroy any deer or hares (other than Irish hares)’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 8 , Page 4, Line 24

Leave out subsection (4)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

New Clause

After clause 8 insert -

‘Control (with permission of occupier) of animals on land adjacent to forest

8A. ¾(1) In this section -

“land A” means any land falling within section 8(2);

“land B” means any land -

(a) which adjoins land A; or
(b) any part of which is within 500 metres of any part of land A.

(2) The following provisions apply where the Department is satisfied that trees growing on land A are being, or are likely to be, damaged by wild animals present on land B.
(3) The Department may serve on the occupier of land B a notice -
(a) stating that trees growing on land A are being, or are likely to be, damaged by wild animals present on land B; and
(b) requesting that the occupier -

(i) take effective steps, within 3 months of the date of the service of the notice, to prevent the damage; or
(ii) grant permission for an authorised person to enter land B and exercise the powers conferred by subsection (4).

(4) An authorised person may with the permission of the occupier take, kill or destroy any wild animals on land B.
(5) If land A or land B is unoccupied, subsections (3) and (4) apply with the substitution of references to the owner of that land for references to the occupier.
(6) In this section “wild animal” means any animal which is living wild and is likely to damage trees, other than -

(a) a bird;
(b) the Irish hare;
(c) an animal for the time being included in Schedule 5 to the Wildlife ( Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (NI 2).’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 9 , Page 5, Line 14

Leave out subsection (8) and insert -

‘(8) Where the occupier of land A is not the Department, any costs incurred by the Department in connection with an authorised person taking action under subsection (7) are recoverable as a civil debt from the occupier of land A.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 9 , Page 5, Line 19

Leave out ‘section 8’ and insert ‘section (Control (with permission of occupier) of animals on land adjacent to forest)’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 10 , Page 5, Line 27

Leave out paragraph (b) and insert -

‘(b) requesting that, within 30 days from the date of service of the notice -

(i) any vegetation growing on the part of the land within a distance of 15 metres from the boundary of the forest be removed or destroyed; or

(ii) such other measures as are specified in the notice are taken in relation to that vegetation for the purposes of reducing the risk of the forest being damaged by fire.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 10 , Page 5, Line 33

At end insert -

‘or take such other measures in relation to that vegetation as the Department considers appropriate for the purposes of reducing the risk of the forest being damaged by fire.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 11 , Page 5, Line 39

Leave out ‘section 7 or 7A’ and insert ‘section 7(1)(a) or 7A(1)(a)’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 11 , Page 5, Line 41

Leave out ‘Article 10(1) or (2) or 19(1), (2)’ and insert ‘Article 19(1)’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 11 , Page 6, Line 3

After ‘8(3)’ insert ‘, (Control (with permission of occupier) of animals on land adjacent to forest)(4)’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 11 , Page 6, Line 4

After ‘section’ insert ‘(Control (with permission of occupier) of animals on land adjacent to forest)(3) or’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 17 , Page 10, Line 13

At end insert -

‘( ) In determining the felling management plan for any land which consists of, or includes, ancient woodland, the Department shall have regard to the desirability of maintaining the special character of that woodland.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 34 , Page 18, Line 7

After ‘14’ insert ‘or 20’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Clause 38 , Page 19, Line 21

At end insert -

‘( ) No order may be made under subsection (1) in relation to any provision of section 9 unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the Assembly.’

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development