NFU on the case of rlr mapping issues
Defra agriculture minister Jim Fitzpatrick’s assertion that the problems farmers are experiencing with the re-issue of their Rural Land Register maps won’t affect 2009 SPS payments, has come as some consolation to NFU members in the East Midlands.
However, the tangle of fields, land parcels, misplaced boundaries and outright mistakes which has so far been delivered to NFU members across the region, will need to be sorted out quickly in order for the 2010 SPS scheme to go ahead unhindered.
So said NFU’s regional combinable crops board chairman, Mark Leggott, after the board’s meeting this week.
"We can only hope that Mr Fitzpatrick’s statement at the NFU breakfast at the Royal Show this week means he will get the problems sorted, quickly," said Mark, who farms near Coningsby in Lincolnshire. "He said the issue would be "at the top of his agenda". Some of the horror stories we’re hearing are mind-boggling, with hundreds of farmers around the country complaining to the NFU that their maps are in complete disorder. To top it all off, this whole exercise has come at the busiest time of year, as we prepare for harvest.
"RPA must urgently provide additional resource from now onwards to ensure that the mapping issues are dealt with promptly. The errors are of grave concern to farmers and need to be sorted before the 2010 Single Payment Scheme forms are sent out next year."
NFU is strongly advising those farmers who have been issued with incorrect maps to carefully read the guidance notes sent with the maps. It might be that some of the problems can be sorted out relatively easily.
"The maps will look different to previous versions," says NFU regional policy adviser, Simon Fisher. "For instance, most of the field sizes will have changed and we know that the 2008 version of the Ordnance Survey maps on which the data is based is not perfect, either, so farmers need to persevere and try and get their changes to the RPA as soon as possible.
"The Minister’s statement at the Royal Show means he wants to get this right and doesn’t want a repeat of the 2004/5 mapping mess. However appalled you feel by the first sight of the new maps, please read the instructions and try to get them back to RPA within the 28-day window.
"NFU is continually monitoring the situation and we are in daily touch with RPA officials to ensure that problems raised by members are accurately reported and quickly acted upon."
