You can score a 'high' where you can demonstrate that the activities proposed will provide benefits which will last longer than the terms of your Rural Development Contract and so provide enhanced public benefit.
For agri-environment type proposals the judgement on long term benefit involves the following issues;
- The potential for the habitat to stay in condition beyond the end of the contract
- How quickly will the habitat deteriorate within a year of the contract ending if the management is abandoned?
The following are a guide to the likely permanency of the habitat;
- Annual crops - very sensitive and unlikely to remain in condition beyond a year following end of the contract if management is removed. Includes some grassland sown for silage, grass margin, species rich pasture or bird cover.
- Permanent pasture - less sensitive but some can quickly become rank or poached depending on their fertility and drainage and thereby affect the likely long term benefit of the management once ended.
- Scrub, Shrubs, Grassland mosaics, Water Margins, Woodland Pasture Likely to be more permanent but depends how integral to the more intensively managed parts of the farm/land as to the risk of the habitat being adversely modified if the positive management were to be abandoned beyond the end of the RDC-RP contract.
- Moorland, Upland grassland, flush habitats - more permanent especially as they are likely to be part of the hill/outbye and therefore subject to less invasive management. Their vulnerability (and therefore long term benefit) depends on stocking pressure (especially if this is likely to significantly increase or decrease following release from RDC-RP contract) and the soils on the site e.g. peat is more sensitive to poaching/erosion but less sensitive to under-grazing compared to mineral soils which may continue to support good habitat condition if stocking densities are raised but support rank vegetation if stocking densities are lowered beyond RDC-RP contract.
- Woodlands - established planted or regenerated woodlands are unlikely to deteriorate very fast beyond the end of the RDC-RP contract and therefore retain long term benefits.
For example:
- Creation of a new job or jobs that will exist beyond the end of the Rural Development Contract period.
- Woodland creation and regeneration, hedgerows, dykes, where they will deliver outcomes beyond the Rural Development Contract period.
- A building, piece of equipment or a community facility that will be operated and available beyond the term of the Rural Development Contract period.