News Release
October 13 2010
Rural Businesses Should Not Bear the Burden of Wildlife Funding
Landowners in the South West have sounded a note of caution about RSPB proposals for new taxes to protect the environment.
The Association said that the plans, outlined in a report entitled 'Financing Nature in an Age of Austerity', could put even greater pressure on rural businesses at an already tough time.
CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, said: “The report rightly recognises that there is not enough funding for the level of conservation work desired by the environmental lobby. However taxing farmers and land managers or putting a levy on new homes in the countryside –as the report suggests - is not the answer.
Conservation and wildlife management, he said, had an economic cost – and he warned that if rural businesses were prevented from evolving to meet the changing demands of the marketplace, they could not continue to bear the costs and, consequently, delivery would decline. Massive cuts to public spending also meant it was essential for the Government to ensure that farmers and land managers were on board at a local level.
“Farmers and land managers already deliver a huge amount of conservation work and without their input England's wildlife network will suffer because there will be nobody to look after or pay for it. But they can only continue to provide this service if their businesses remain economically viable.”
Mr. Mortimer said that the economy of the countryside depended on a range of rural businesses and that they could ill afford additional financial burdens. The planning system, he said, was already too expensive without Government adding to its costs.”
“It’s all very well saying that we have to nurture the environment, and no one would argue with that, but at the moment we need to nurture those businesses who can actually deliver the environment, habitat and landscape without affecting their priority job which is feeding us all,” he said.
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