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The equine industry is the second largest rural employer and a significant contributor to the economic prosperity of rural areas. There are around one million horses in England and as a result horse owners and those managing land for horses are increasingly becoming important stewards of the countryside. ‘ Land used by the industry, such as grazing land, gallops, access routes and equine buildings all impact on both the visual and physical nature of the environment and the horse industry should be encouraged to help improve the
quality of the land it utilises’ (Strategy for the Horse Industry in England and Wales, British Horse Industry Confederation, December 2005).
Whilst horses can have a positive impact on landscape and wildlife, and may play an increasingly important role in landscape management if livestock numbers continue to decline, they all too often have a negative impact. Negative impacts on the landscape and environment can include overgrazed, poached, weed infested fields, poor waste management and visually intrusive and poorly maintained fencing, all of which creates a poor impression of the horse industry. While detail is usually submitted as part of the application process in relation to the design and location of buildings for horses it can be that the wider impact of horse keeping in terms of land management and fencing has the greater impact, creating a sense of landuse change from agricultural landuse to recreational use, along with potential intensification of use.
It is important that poor horse pasture management does not undermine landscape quality and new development should set out to conserve and enhance the Kent Downs AONB. One way of helping to achieve this, whilst supporting the important contribution of the equine industry, is through the submission of a Land Management Plan as part of the planning application process. This need not be an onerous process but does provide the applicant with an opportunity to set out how they will manage the land to be used for the keeping of horses to prevent negative impact. A Land Management Plan can include detail such as number and type of horse, amount of land available for grazing, soil type and how the risk of poaching/overgrazing will be managed, grass type (implications for animal welfare, ability to withstand horse pressure and contribution to biodiversity), location of, and materials used for fencing, waste management proposals, storage of bedding, feed and equipment, and the proposed land management regime allowing for resting and rotation of land.
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Click here to download a copy of the Managing Land for Horses - a guide to good practice in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Click here to read a copy of the guide on-line.
Click here to download a template for a Land Managagement Plan
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