CUMBRIAN graziers are set to lose £238,000 in farm payments due to a recent government re-mapping exercise.

According to new calculations by the Federation of Cumbria Commoners (FCC), together with David Morley, head of conservation and environment at H&H land and property, they found 3,800 hectares of common land across Cumbria are now ineligible for Basic Payment Scheme.

Some commons, says FCC, have been much harder hit than others, with areas eligible for payments cut from between 25 and 50 percent.

The FCC is now questioning whether all the mapping changes are correct, suggesting it 'is hard to believe' they are.

Viv Lewis, administrator of FCC is alerting commoners to potential errors. She says “Using the current data, Cumbria’s commoners could lose up to £238,000 in BPS support for 2018.

"It is vital that all commoners’ associations who have received notification from RPA that the eligible area of their common has changed, check that RPA has mapped their fells correctly. If they don’t agree they need to challenge significant inaccuracies.”

The Rural Payments Agency say they pay BPS on common land they consider eligible for livestock grazing.

Hard tracks, rivers and streams, rocky outcrops and scree, quarries and mine workings and dense bracken or ungrazeable scrub are deemed ineligible and excluded from payment. These features are mapped on digital land maps and updated every three years.

But the FCC has warned using satellite images which are then interpreted by RPA contractors is 'not a foolproof' mapping method and 'errors can creep in'.

"Shadows on satellite images can make steep ground appear ungrazeable and heather is often confused with ungrazeable scrub. As RPA does not have sufficient staff to walk the common and inspect the land, these errors remain in the system," says Ms Lewis.

She added: "To date RPA has not produced any guidelines as to how commoners should challenge the results of this round of mapping. Nor what evidence they require before RPA agrees to correct the size of the eligible area of the common. Based on past experience the onus is on the commoners to show why the mapping is wrong, even when it’s pretty obvious that a mistake has occurred. The Federation says it would be helpful if the RPA could pick up anomalies and check them first, so as not to waste commoners’ time and money."

The Federation’s guidance to commoners’ associations is, 'if RPA has reduced the eligible area of the common significantly, the first step is for the Chairman or Secretary to ring RPA (03000 200 301) and request the maps for their common.

'Next, get the commoners together and identify areas that may be wrong and reach and agreed view. Then provide RPA with a list of the ineligible features that are wrong and should be removed or reduced, together with the photographic evidence to show why the mapping should be changed.

'This can be a big job and an Association may consider employing a surveyor to gather the evidence on the commoners’ behalf. It is expensive and the Association will need to work out if the costs cover the money they are likely to recoup.'

The Federation will be looking at mapping errors in more detail at their AGM on Friday, March 8. For more information, get in touch with Viv Lewis viv@cumbriacommoners.org.uk

In response to the FCC's concerns, an RPA spokesperson said that "as an EU member state, we were required to undertake a three year programme of inspections in 2016 to ensure the eligibility of common land, or else be fined for disallowance".

"Inspection data is taken from a range of sources, including remote satellite, and there are robust assurance processes are in place to validate inspection results," the spokesperson continued.

"Where images taken are unclear or masked by shadows or other land features, field visits are made to conduct a physical inspection on the ground.

"The RPA worked closely with some Cumbrian Commons Associations at an early stage of the programme to accurately map out the areas eligible for BPS and are continuing to engage with farmers and bodies such as the Federation of Cumbria Commoners to ensure all eligible areas are included.”