The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has “cautiously” welcomed Northern Ireland’s revised Nutrient Action Program (NAP) which has been put out for public consultation.
The party added that responsibility for its introduction now falls “directly” to Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir.
UUP agriculture spokesperson and chair of the North Eland Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (AERA) Committee, Robbie Butler, said: “A year ago, I called for the original NAP consultation to be withdrawn.
“These proposals have been rushed, insufficiently evidenced and undeliverable, with independent analysis commissioned by the Ulster Farmers’ Union estimating their cost at more than £1.56 billion a year.”
The National Action Plan is a comprehensive set of regulations that dictate agricultural practices for managing animal manure, chemical fertilizers and nutrient loads to protect water bodies from agricultural pollution.
The proposals for the revised NAP 2027-2030 were jointly designed by the NAP Stakeholder Tasking and Closing Group, which includes stakeholders drawn from a wide range of expertise, including agriculture, environmental organisations, the agri-food industry and DAERA.
The comprehensive framework document will be the focal point of A 10-week National Action Plan (NAP) public consultation Launched yesterday (Monday 29 June)
“Partners”
Referring to the original NAP, Butler said: “I said then that farmers should be partners, not travellers, and that real change could only come through shared determination.
“This is exactly what the stakeholder process I independently chaired achieved, and I pay tribute to the Ulster Farmers’ Union and every organization that has done the hard work.”
Butler added that the background to this should be remembered.
“These proposals arrive at the same moment that the Ulster Farmers’ Union passed an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Minister Muir’s administration, and at a time when the Labor Government’s family farm tax was increasing pressures on farming families.
“Trust between farmers, the ministry and the government has reached an all-time low. That is why this revised program is important.
“It is the step forward that everyone desperately needs, from all parties,” he said.
According to Butler, many of the “most harmful measures” in the NAP have been removed or rewritten.
“We have moved from strict and global rules to a targeted, phased and implementable approach,” he said.
“As the federation itself says, it is not perfect, but it is a world away from where we started.”
eviction
Butler stressed that this moment is “not the finish line” and farmers should not be left to endure it alone.
He added: “The report is clear that agriculture is only one of the sources of the problem.
“Water, wastewater, septic tanks and industry in Northern Ireland must face the same urgency that agriculture has required.
“Just as importantly, much of this package cannot be delivered without the Minister playing his part.”
According to Butler, the main goal of reducing excess phosphorus depends on building infrastructure for fertilizer processing and export that does not yet exist on a large scale.
“The expansion of low-emission slurry equipment depends on appropriate funding through the Sustainable Agriculture Investment Scheme,” he said.
“The entire program is also conditional on real progress on ammonia policy and the repeal of the ban on the planning system that hinders agricultural investment.
“Farmers cannot be held to goals they have no means to achieve.”
UUP’s agriculture spokesman called on DAERA to publish the full economic impact assessment, so farmers “can see exactly what these revised measures will mean for their businesses”.
He added that when the measures are reviewed in two years, farmers need certainty and support behind them, not “the threat of tougher regulation”.
“The Ulster Unionist Party will work with stakeholders and industry to examine these proposals in detail, protecting the agri-food sector and our environment,” Butler said.
