By James O’Connell, Head of Vineyards and Wineries team, Mayo Wynne Baxter.
Many vineyards and other landowners have parcels of land which, for a whole variety of reasons, are unsuitable for planting vines or crops.
With the Government’s welcome focus on increasing biodiversity, there is now a number of schemes providing opportunities to potentially profit from that otherwise unusable land.
Biodiversity Net Gain
The main way to turn a profit out of unusable land is through biodiversity net gain (BNG).
There were major changes to the scheme in February which mean developers are now required to ensure there is at least 10 per cent more biodiversity at a development site when the development is completed than there was before they began building.
Frequently this will mean maximising the amount of development on the site and offsetting the lost biodiversity with a ten per cent increase on a completely different site. The rules require the developer to pay for the alternative site to reach the required biodiversity standard and then pay to maintain it for a minimum of 30 years. This results in a lot of rent cheques for otherwise unusable land.
As vineyards across the South East look to build on their wine tourism ventures, choosing the right type of wildlife habitat will only boost their appeal to visitors.
Water neutrality
Under planning rules for every new development, the predicted increase in total water demand in the region due to the development should be offset by reducing demand in the existing community.
This led to one client, a dairy farmer, having a whole new water catchment system put in place on the farm, paid for entirely by a developer, together with an obligation on the developer to pay to maintain it for around 25 years.
The farm has become self-sufficient in water, which offset the increased water demand from the developer’s new housing estate.
Countryside Stewardship Scheme
This scheme provides financial incentives for vineyard owners to look after and improve the environment.
One of my clients has a herd of Exmoor ponies that grazes scrubland in Sussex. The selective nature of the ponies’ grazing returns unusable scrubland, including quite steep escarpments, to its original chalk grassland state, allowing the return of native flowers and other plants and attracting grant payments on otherwise unusable land.
Nutrient neutrality
Natural England has so far advised 74 local planning authorities that new developments should only go ahead in their areas if they do not cause additional nutrient pollution; new residential development must achieve ‘nutrient neutrality’.
Off-site offsetting is allowed, although the complexities of achieving nutrient neutrality make this a more complex scheme to engage with than most.
Landscape Recovery Scheme
This type of scheme comes under the broader Environmental Land Management schemes. It provides funding and support for projects to protect and restore the English landscape.
Species Recovery Programme Scheme
This scheme provides funding and support for projects to create new habitats for wildlife, help protected sites and boost efforts to reach net zero, alongside sustainable food production.
Woodland creation
Finally, this new drive encourages farmers and landowners across England to plant and manage more trees.
Conclusion
It’s true to say that managing a vineyard is like riding a rollercoaster: the highs are high, but the lows can be very low. While pursuing the goal of a profitable vineyard, or indeed growing other crops, it makes sense to use otherwise ‘wasted’ land to develop alternative income streams that are less dependent on the weather and on consumers’ thirst.
