Stewardship payments ahead of schedule (From Craven Herald)

Stewardship payments ahead of schedule

9:20am Saturday 21st November 2009 in

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Natural England has announced it is well ahead of schedule in processing annual claims received under the Countryside Stewardship (CSS) and Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) schemes. More than £8 million of claims have already been processed and agreement holders have started to get payments.

Regional director Peter Nottage said: “This is great news for our agreement holders and shows that Natural England staff are doing their bit to help the farming community during these times of economic hardship. “We have already received over 92 per cent of expected claims, but would like to encourage the remaining agreement holders to send in their claim form as quickly as possible.”

The CSS and ESA schemes cover more than 84,000 hectares of land across the Yorkshire and the Humber region and provide funding to support a wide range of environmentally-friendly farming practices.

Anyone interested in applying for a stewardship scheme should ring 0300 060 1116 or email iss.leeds@naturalengland.org.uk