Agreement to add 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 water authority designate maintenance paths belonging to the water authority as landscape features. These paths will then count towards the subsidy that farmers can receive for sustainable and future-proof agriculture. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) states that the owner's consent is sufficient. The published notice on the water authority s website water authority as a form of consent. If checks reveal that written consent between water authority the farmer is still required, farmers can contact the water authority for this.
Farmers do not take over maintenance from water authority
The Noorderzijlvest Water Authority continues to base its approach on its own management and maintenance plan. Farmers may only watercourse the number of square meters up to the point where a watercourse enters the maintenance paths as a landscape feature. 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.
Mowing of embankments remains under the responsibility of water authority
However, mowing the embankment of the watercourse the responsibility of the water authority. By only granting permission for mowing the maintenance paths, the water authority avoids water authority to the management and maintenance of the water system.
At the end of 2023, water authority will evaluate water authority .
After one year, the water authority will assess water authority 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 authority may also decide to extend the permit to include ditches. In 2024, a longer-term policy will be developed based on the experiences gained.