Farmers 'astonished' by NRW's proposed hikes to fees and charges

NFU Cymru has criticised Natural Resources Wales' (NRW) proposed hikes to its regulatory fees and charges, leaving many farmers 'astonished' amid significant inflationary pressures.

The proposals, set out in a consultation which closed on 7 January, puts forward cost rises across charging regimes relating to agriculture which will come into effect from April 2023.

They include a 10-fold increase in the cost of new applications for land spreading of spent or unused sheep dip, to £3,728.

There will also be an increase from £135 to £6,327 for the cost of new licences for abstraction/impoundment of water.

The regulatory body's proposals also seek an end to the tiered charging approach for hydro-electric power applications.

NRW has also consulted on an hourly rate of £125/hour for pre-application advice and a 6% increase for the annual fees it charges to recover the costs of monitoring and assessing compliance with permit conditions.

NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chairman, Hedd Pugh said that farmers would be 'astonished' at the NRW's proposals as they were 'excessive and prohibitive'.

He said: “NFU Cymru has substantial concerns about the level of transparency shown by NRW in how it has calculated the proposed increases.

"The union has stressed in its response that the onus is on NRW to show that the costs are fair, proportionate and competitive and the regulatory body is doing everything it can to keep the costs to a minimum and deliver value for money.

“NFU Cymru is extremely concerned that the proposals, as they stand, will have serious unintended consequences and perverse impacts."

NRW’s proposals to increase the costs for sheep dip disposal 10 times would "hinder efforts" to eradicate sheep scab.

The disease has been identified by the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group as a long-standing priority.

Mr Pugh added: "It seems perverse to us that NRW has brought forward these proposals taking into account that sheep dipping is the key tool in the armoury against the disease.

"We are also clear there are strong arguments for the use of waivers and reductions in fees where permits and licences support practices that deliver wider environmental and socio-economic benefits.”

The consultation has now closed, with NRW saying it would use the feedback from the consultation to inform its new charging schemes, which it intends to implement from 1 April 2023.