As part of a comprehensive legal services appointment, we advise the Forestry Commission on the documentation of phosphate and nitrogen mitigation schemes; including the high-profile scheme at the River Stour. This has involved the production of a bespoke suite of agreements that record the sale and purchase of the units arising from the environmental value secured.

As these Nutrient Neutrality (NN) agreements stand for 125 years, issues such as succession planning and long-term management needed to be addressed. We are currently negotiating associated section 106 planning agreements with the Local Authority which will underpin the units sold and safeguard the land use change and environmental outcomes.

We have been acting for a number of large, landed estates and other organisations, such as the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere in relation to DEFRA’s Landscape Scale Recovery scheme. Our advice to date has focused on structuring long-term legally binding agreements between multiple landowners/stakeholders/occupiers, with a particular focus on engaging agricultural tenants (under both Agricultural Holdings Act and Farm Business tenancies). We also advised on how to safeguard investments made in land use change and associated environmental outcomes, including the potential use of conservation covenants. Complex issues of land tenure, carbon ownership and apportionment of risk and reward between the stakeholders need to be addressed, whilst providing clarity on all parties’ roles.

We also advised the Foundation for Common Land in another Round 1 LSR ‘test & trial’ project in relation to two pilot projects in the New Forest and Malvern Hills AONB.

We provided legal specialist input into the common land and SSSIs and advised on possible governance structures for the LSR in the particular context of common land.

We have acted for Clinton Devon Estates, and underlying ownership entities, in structuring and drafting a partnership agreement with the Environment Agency to deliver the £15 million Lower Otter Restoration Project. This forms part of the wider Promoting Adaptation to Changing Coastlines (PACCo) initiative, which aims to demonstrate how a range of benefits for people and the environment can be delivered by adapting pre-emptively to climate change.

We have recently undertaken a wholesale review of our agricultural tenancy precedent agreements to include new clauses relating to natural capital issues and policy changes following the Agriculture Act 2020 and Environment Act 2021. There is a balance to be struck between landlord and tenant over the use of natural capital assets, the claiming of public subsidies and exploitation of private money opportunities (BNG, conservation covenants, nutrient neutrality etc.). There is also the bigger environmental picture to consider and the overarching need for priority to be given to measures which are beneficial to the environment to help the UK meet its Net Zero targets.

We consider that the starting point should be to draft in a manner which facilities environmental improvement. The aim being to encourage collaboration for the benefit of the environment alongside the primary agricultural use of the holding.