What the action involves
This action’s aim is that throughout the year, there’ll be a permanent grass buffer strip around a designed or engineered waterbody, and associated features such as leats and culverts will be maintained. Areas of bare ground, scrub and undesirable species must be managed appropriately.
The purpose of this is to:
- protect the banks and associated water control features of designed or engineered historic waterbodies
- maintain or strengthen water control features
- conserve the character of the waterbody
- help to maintain and conserve landscape character
What you must do
Your Natural England adviser or Historic England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.
To get paid for this action, you must:
- retain the depth, shape, profile and design of the built water body and associated engineering
- manage an agreed percentage of scrub and species
- establish or maintain a permanently vegetated buffer strip at least 4m wide on the perimeter or bank of the main water body
- establish or maintain a permanently vegetated buffer strip at least 2m wide around features relating to the water body such as leats, dams and sluices outside the 4m buffer strip
- carry out maintenance works and minor repairs on structural historic or archaeological features on a like-for-like basis to retain the character of the feature in its local setting – for example if non-traditional materials were used to repair a structure, you must continue to use that material
- manage the buffer strips to control woody growth and make sure there’s no more than 5% bare ground
- manage vegetation so that no more than 25% of the water surface is in permanent shade
The advice you’re given from Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to complete a structures maintenance record at least once a year to record any repair and maintenance work.
You must not put up any new fences.
When to do it
You must do this action each year of its duration.
Evidence to keep
You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.
You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:
- structural maintenance plan
- field operations at a land parcel level
- associated invoices
- photographs
The same action appears in the other schemes under a different code. The work is broadly the same; the rate and the length of the commitment are not.
- SFI 2024 — HEF8: £2,512 per hectare (ha) per year – you can only include the land area where you’ll do this action (not the area of water) You can calculate the hectarage by: • measuring the length of the buffer strip in metres (m) • mul, over 5 years
Where you can do it
You can do this action on:
- waterbodies with an artificially retained area of open standing water
- the banks of the waterbody and buffer strips around associated features (such as leats and culverts)
You cannot do this action on:
- areas of water – you can only include land
- field ponds dug to below the water table
- water meadows (bedwork and catch meadow systems)
- waterbodies that are covered by the Reservoirs Act 1975
- raised waterbodies that are classed as high-risk by the Environment Agency under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010
Eligible land
You can do this action on land that’s:
- an eligible land type
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover
Available area
Total or part of the available area in the land parcel.
Rotational or static
This action is static. This means you must do it on the same location each year of the action’s duration.
Consents and permissions
To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)
- consent from the Environment Agency or other responsible bodies for works on hydrological structures
- obtain any necessary consents from the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) or Internal Drainage Board (IDB) before starting any work
You may need to:
- agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser
- get advice from your Historic England, Natural England adviser or local authority if you have other historic or archaeological features on your agreement land
- get Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- get listed building consent from your local authority to work on a listed structure as part of this action
- get a wildlife licence from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
- apply for a felling licence from the Forestry Commission to carry out some activities in this action
If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.
Capital grants that support it
If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding.
You can also apply for capital items to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.
