The Welsh Assembly Government's (WAG) decision to set up a working group to discuss and resolve issues and concerns raised by common land graziers over the introduction of the controversial Glastir land management scheme was welcomed by members of the Farmers' Union of Wales common land committee today.
"We have been calling for the establishment of this group for the past six months and raised the issue directly with the Minister on a number of occasions last year," said committee chairman Lorraine Howells. "We were, therefore, pleased when, in early January, WAG officials confirmed that this group would be set up.
"The first meeting was held on 17 February, and further meetings will be held on a monthly basis."
Miss Howells is a member of the Glastir Commons Working Group along with FUW policy director Dr Nick Fenwick and chairman of the union's hill farming committee Derek Morgan.
She told today's meeting: "We have been lobbying the Assembly regarding the particular problems associated with common land and Glastir and asking them to set this group up since last summer, so it is good that it is finally off the ground."
However, the committee was unanimous in expressing concern regarding the current timetable given the diverse problems associated with Glastir on common land, and reiterated calls for the scheme's implementation date to be postponed for 12 months.
"Almost 18 per cent of Welsh farms have common land, and this is therefore of critical importance to Welsh agriculture, especially in those areas where common land makes up the majority of farmland.
"Everything must be done to make Glastir accessible to as many commoners throughout Wales as possible but this will take time. The transition from LFA payments, in the form of Tir Mynydd, to the Glastir agri-environmental scheme means a massive escalation in eligibility and compliance criteria.
"This will be a complex enough process for normal farmland, but on common land the complexities are multiplied due to the different ways in which common land is used in different areas, and the diverse range of habitats that exist on Welsh commons.
"Tir Mynydd and its predecessors have helped stem rural depopulation and maintain livestock for decades. If we do not get Glastir right for common land it will have severe consequences for Welsh communities and environments, and accelerate the abandonment of the ancient hefting systems that have defined much of Wales's uplands."