Agreement to sign up for maintenance paths as a landscape feature
Farmers will be allowed to register maintenance paths as landscape features until 2023.
The executive committee (DB) of the Noorderzijlvest Water Authority made this decision on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. This decision was prompted by various requests from farmers based on the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The permission is valid for one year for the time being. This will be followed by an evaluation.
Farmers may designate maintenance paths as landscape features
The new national Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) stipulates that farmers may designate water board maintenance paths as landscape features. These paths will then count toward the subsidies that farmers can receive for sustainable and future-proof agriculture. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) states that the owner's permission is sufficient. The published notice on the water board's website counts as a form of permission. If checks reveal that written permission between the water board and the farmer is still required, farmers can contact the water board for this.
Farmers will not take over maintenance from water board
The Noorderzijlvest Water Authority will continue to base its decisions on its own management and maintenance plan. Farmers may only designate the number of square meters up to the point where a watercourse enters the maintenance paths as a landscape element. Only mowing the maintenance path is permitted as a form of actual use. Farmers are not permitted to use the maintenance paths for any other actual purpose. Other actual uses include, for example, sowing their own crops. This is therefore not permitted.
Slope mowing remains part of water board maintenance
However, mowing the embankment of the watercourse remains the responsibility of the water board. By only granting permission to mow the maintenance paths, the water board avoids risks to the management and maintenance of the water system.
At the end of 2023, the water board will evaluate the permit.
After one year, the water board will assess what went well and what lessons can be learned. The executive committee will then decide before May 15, 2024, whether to extend the permit for another year. The water board may also decide to extend the permit to include ditches. In 2024, a longer-term policy will be developed based on the experiences gained.