24/05/2006

Farmer fined for damage to area of land

A Co. Fermanagh farmer has been fined £20,000 and ordered to return an Area of Special Scientific Interest to its former state.

Mr David Foster,30, of Knockninny Hill, Derrylin, Co Fermanagh, was charged with damaging the area in July 2004 in a case brought by the Environment and Heritage Service, an agency within The Department of the Environment (DoE).

At Enniskillen Magistrates Court, Mr Foster was charged with breaching the Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002.

An estimated 14 hectares of the ASSI had been severely damaged through deforestation of woodland, drainage of grassland and agricultural improvement through reseeding.

The magistrate found him guilty on two charges of the Order and sentenced him to pay a fine of £10,000 for each charge. A Restoration Order was also granted which compels Mr Foster to restore the site to its former condition at his own expense.

The area of land at Knockninny Hill was declared an ASSI by the DoE as an ASSI in July 1997 under the provisions of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. According to the DoE all known landowners and occupiers received notification of the declaration.

The area features localised exposures of limestone pavement, Karst scenery, and is of biological interest due to the quality and diversity of the woodland and grassland habitat, together with the rich fauna that this supports.

(SP/KMcA)

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