Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The issue we have here is with the definition of a development and what it means for the planning process. Large areas of planted land in forestry totally changes the landscape and is a permanent development that has a real impact on communities, the environment and local infrastructure, and it has a broader county and regional impact. Even the smallest development requires planning permission such as the change of use of a building, making a new entrance onto a roadway or building wall or a fence. The most positive developments, large and small, need planning permission but forestry, which grows 40 ft tall and has a massive visual and environmental impact, is outside the planning system. This anomaly needs to be addressed and that is what the Bill intends to do.

I want to make some general comments about the forestry system in Ireland because many people are not aware of how it works. Most of the land being planted is marginal in parts of the west and north west, where heavier soils and a wetter climate mean profitable agricultural options are limited. Many experts point out that this land is simply not productive farmland and forestry offers the best return to the farmer, mainly due to the grants, and also solves the country's carbon sequestration obligations. Some of this may be correct but closer examination reveals negative realities that also must be addressed.

The general model of afforestation in the State is large blocks of Sitka spruce trees, which are relatively fast growing conifer plantations, and a small mix of broadleaf species is planted around the perimeter. The trees are planted very close together in rows with open drainage shores running between them. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine grants cover the full cost of the planting and fencing of the land under the scheme and the land owner receives an annual payment of approximately €500 per hectare for the first 15 years. If farmers plant their own land, they will continue to receive the basic payment or entitlements they have under the CAP, which is usually another approximately €200 per ha on top of the forestry payment.

The first thinning of the forest happens after between 16 and 19 years, when every other row of trees is removed by specialist machinery and mainly used for wood pulp and wood chipping. The landowner gets paid for this timber at a rate per tonne. That second thinning happens seven to ten years later. This is better timber and gets a better price. Then clear fell happens after 35 to 40 years, so it is a long-term investment when all is cleared out. Replanting is one of the conditions of clear felling. The final timber product is used as a valuable sawn timber for the construction industry. Currently, clear fell timber can return up to €8,000 per hectare for the landowner. Overall the return for forestry is very good and it is all tax free.

The reason for the generous Government assistance for forestry is to encourage it as a means of reaching our commitments on climate change, as trees are viewed as the only way to absorb and store carbon, which is disputed by many. For a small farmer struggling to make a living on wet poor land in the west, it is an attractive option, as it is for investment companies and pension funds where the land can be bought cheaply and with the security of State funding for the planting and 15 years of payments. As a Government policy, grant aided monocultural afforestation has been successful in getting more land under trees.

The permanent change of land use is one of the clear consequences of this policy and for communities living in areas where forestry is replacing farming as a model of land use it has negative impacts. There is little labour involved in growing Sitka spruce. It closes down the entire countryside. The activity involved in traditional farming has a significant economic spin-off in the local area, with services being provided to the farm and products and materials traded with the farm. Normal farming activity creates opportunities and, in turn, this creates activity. The farm that is planted with Sitka spruce never needs new gates or fencing or anyone to cut fodder, bale it, gather it in, plough it or reseed it. There are no animals to feed or to care for. There is no vet to come to look at an animal or anyone to do any maintenance of the habitats or hedges, or anyone to come to fix the tractors or the farm machinery, or to maintain the sheds. Above all, the farm that grows Sitka spruce needs no farmer. No farmer will go to the market to meet other farmers or call on neighbours when they are in need because there are no needs. The planted farm becomes deserted and goes wild and uninteresting. The rural community that once survived on the microeconomy that the activity of farming delivered in an area also suffers decline and becomes deserted. The economic activity created by planting, maintaining, thinning and processing the conifers is very low as it is an industry that is highly automated. There is approximately one full-time job per 1,000 ha of forestry.

The look of these dark blocks of forestry on the landscape is not very appealing and for many people who live next to the forests they are a real eyesore of lifeless black deserts towering over their lives. The plantations grow tall and dense, and there are many disputes between local residents and forestry companies about the blocking of views and the shading out of light by the trees. Planning permission is not required for forestry, although it grows and becomes a permanent feature that dominates landscapes and breaks the horizon with immense visual impact. Many of our most beautiful picturesque views have been blocked out with conifers forests dominating the landscape, with farm after farm being planted in an area, leading to a concentration of forestry, particularly in County Leitrim and other areas. This has major environmental and visual impacts that have been ignored up to now, while the genuine complaints of local people are drowned out by a chorus from State agencies that we must meet our afforestation targets for climate change reasons.

When marginal land comes up for sale, local farmers depending on suckler cows and sheep find it difficult to buy it as the forestry companies, backed by hedge funds and pension funds, can always outbid them. This brings this brings us to another problem created by the afforestation policy, which is the change of land ownership from local farmers to international corporate interests that have the forestry maintained for them and thinned by forest management companies. The timber industry in Ireland has been built around the Sitka spruce model of forestry with the harvesting machinery for conifers and the transport and handling equipment in sawmills all developed for this type of timber.

There are also serious problems with the road damage from thousands of tonnes of timber being extracted over a few weeks. Local councils are always in conflict with forestry companies. If the planning process was used, these issues would be dealt with in the beginning and conditions could be put in place for forestry development. Making progress on our climate change obligations is the reason offered for the high level of grants and tax-free status for forestry.

There are also worries about the efficiency and effectiveness of the Sitka spruce forestry model as a carbon sink. In general, pine trees with needles are up to 30% less effective at absorbing carbon than broadleaf trees. The model of plantation in Ireland, whereby the Sitka spruce are planted very close together, is designed to produce timber with fewer branches and, therefore, fewer knots on the timber, as the trees grow straight up with most of the foliage at the top. This means only one third of the tree has carbon absorbing foliage and the canopy of dark needles shuts out the light, making the floor of the forest almost bare underneath. While evergreen, the spruce needles shed and are replaced. The dead needles are quite toxic to other plant life on the floor, again eliminating biodiversity.

For most people this is news because for them forests are good and healthy open spaces. This is the way it should be for everyone. Local people should want to live near forestry and should have a say and a real input into the process of large developments in their area because forestry is a large development. The Bill is about providing this opportunity to people and officially recognising the reality that everyone sees, which is that forestry is a development. The existence of a forestry licensing system is not the reason to exclude this development from planning, any more than the licence for a quarry does not exclude it from planning. A wind farm needs a licence to generate power but still needs planning permission.

The Bill states there has to be more than 5 ha of forestry for it to require planning permission. This is because I recognise that many farmers who want to plant some of their land would have 5 or 6 acres. This would not require planning permission. At present, the Government recognises that forestry of more than 50 ha needs planning permission, so this is recognised as a development, but where I come from, and I have looked at much of it in my parish and neighbouring parishes, farm after farm is planted. In one area I counted more than 200 ha of forestry in one block, comprising several farms that were planted over a number of years. This has a major impact on the environment and the landscape. To break it down, if we have planning permission for 5 ha of forestry, we can ensure we can do something about this.

When I was elected to Leinster House, I recognised several serious issues that needed to be dealt with in my constituency. One was having planning permission for people to build houses in rural areas. In most of Leitrim, people who want to build a house on their own land cannot get planning permission for it. However, they see forestry covering the entire place and pushing out the people.

I brought forward a Bill to deal with that. I also recognised that forestation was a big problem and I brought forward this Bill to deal with that. Every Deputy in this House is elected from a constituency and most of those constituencies will have their own small issue, whatever it may be, that is particular to that constituency. I recognise that this issue is one that is very much particular to my constituency but if we are to be true to ourselves we will have to do something for our own people. I would support any Deputy who raises an issue in this House that is affecting the community in their area to ensure they can do something to help them. I hope I will get the same support from every Deputy here when it comes to this Bill to put planning permission in place for afforestation for every area in the country but particularly in areas like County Leitrim, which have been devastated by afforestation.

The Government should allow this Bill to proceed to Committee Stage where we can deal with any legitimate issues or concerns that may need to be considered. If the Government rejects this Bill it will be seen as a Government rejecting rural communities. I ask it please not to do that and instead support my genuine effort in this Bill to give people, particularly those in County Leitrim, some say and some hope for their future.

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