Dartmoor Commons and Hill Farming Westminster Hall Debate
The Background
Commons are at the core of Dartmoor’s land management comprising 37% of the National Park and the vast majority of commons are also designated for nature as SSSIs and SACs. The main Common Land Unit is the Forest of Dartmoor which extends to over 11,000 ha. Over 25,000ha are affected by the current HLS expiries.
These commons have, in the main, been under stewardship schemes of one form or another for the last twenty years plus. Many of the current HLS schemes have expired or are expiring in 2023. Dartmoor Commons are owned by a number of individuals (common owners) with over 300 farmers having rights of common for grazing, cattle, sheep, and ponies. With the phasing out of BPS, the primary mechanism for supporting micro, family-farming businesses in the uplands at present are HLS schemes.
The Issue
Natural England has advised the RPA that most Dartmoor Commons HLS schemes should not be provided with 5-year extensions unless they make changes to their grazing practices as they are not delivering on the ecological indicators of success set out in these agreements.
In many cases, the Agreement Holders (mostly commons associations) were formally notified of this by NE less than a month before the expiry of their agreements and in one case in the week of the expiry.
Notification was via a mail merge circular letter to all expiring agreement holders. One common had a further letter in early March with details of very substantial stock reductions to be phased over the next five years. This resulted in other commons assuming they would require the same level of stock reduction so escalating tensions.
The actual ask from Natural England is variable between commons; ranging from substantive and moderate reductions in grazing numbers while some commons will be asked to make only minor changes. Many commons await clarification from NE of the conditions for their HLS extension.
Foundation for Common Land & Upland Alliance Briefing Notes
You can download two briefing documents for the debate in Westminster Hall on the 18 April here:
Foundation for Common Land Briefing Note