May 10 2010
From: http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2010/05/10/121156/DEFRA-forced-to-reduce-NVZ-restrictions.htm
THE government has unveiled a 9% reduction in farmland under restriction to reduce nitrogen loss from agriculture to water.
DEFRA was forced to issue a revised map after farmers appealed against the designation of additional Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs).
More than 750 appeals were submitted across England and Wales ahead of a DEFRA deadline which expired earlier this year.
Upheld appeals saw NVZ designations lifted from affected farmland.
Where a body of water should not have been identified as polluted, all land draining into that water has also been removed from the NVZ.
This means many more farmers than those that appealed may now find their land is no longer within an NVZ.
The NFU, which had lobbied hard for a review of the NVZ areas, urged its members to check if they still remain under restriction.
Farmers can check the NVZ status of their farmland by clicking here.