11 Land Use and Agriculture
11.3 Assessment Criteria
Introduction
The land area
within the study zone can be categorised under several headings.
- Agricultural
Lands
- Dairy Farms
- Stud Farms
and Training Establishments
- Tillage Farms
(incl. Sugar Beet Farms)
- REPS Farms
- Significant
Land Based Sports Establishments.
In establishing
assessment criteria the objective was to identify and grade
areas where the probability of finding a feasible route is
low, moderate or high. Since the farming practice, enterprise
mix and soil types throughout the area are similar it is unlikely
that standard farming practices will act as a constraint in
deciding the route to be selected. The affect of a new road
will be keenly felt by a given number of farmers along the
chosen route. Therefore no matter where the route is chosen
a sub-set of farmers within the area will be affected. Choosing
alternative routes either to the east or the west will simply
affect a different sub-set of farmers.
In identifying
a feasible route it is important to consider areas in which
the placing of a major road would create a significant impact.
Such areas may have several prominent dairy farms or a cluster
of dairy farms in a compact area. The probability of finding
a feasible route through such an area may be quite low.
There are however
within the area a significant number of land based sports
establishments and stud farms and training establishments.
Some of these are of national and international importance
and each would need individual assessment before deciding
to route a road through them.
Agricultural
Lands
The majority
of the area within the study zone except for urban areas and
roads can be broadly classified as agricultural land. The
area, except for a small highland area north of Kilkenny,
has the benefit of highly fertile soils and is a highly productive
agricultural area. Throughout all of the study area agriculture
is practiced intensively with specialist sugar beet, cereal,
dairy, stud, beef and sheep farms throughout the area.
Stud Farms
and Training Establishments
The bloodstock
industry is one of the most significant land uses in the region
and it is therefore of major importance to the region. Kildare
County Development Plan 1999 (Section 2.11) has assigned particular
importance to the bloodstock industry 'its expansion is one
of the primary goals of the council as a development agency'.
The location
of a proposed road could create a significant impact on stud
farms or equine based enterprises. Horses, due to their sensitive
nature, could be greatly affected by the location of a major
road in close proximity to a farm. It would have implications
for both the rearing and breeding of horses in the area. The
severance of land parcels can create field sizes and shapes
unsuitable to the training of horses.
The stud farms
and training areas identified are a non-exhaustive listing
(See Table 11.1) with the farms identified being those derived
from local knowledge, consultation with local people within
the industry and a thorough desktop study. It is evident from
the assessment that the Carlow - Muinebheag area is a prominent
region in the equine industry. These enterprises vary in size
and importance. The exact site boundaries of these stud farms
would require individual mapping surveys.
Dairy Farms
In the assessment
of the study area a number of the prominent dairy farms and
areas where clusters of dairy farms may be found, have been
identified. This allows the highlighting of areas where dairy
farming is of major importance in the local industry (See
Table 11.2). As with the identification of stud farms within
the study area, dairy farm locations have been pinpointed
through the use of local knowledge, consultation with local
people within the industry and desktop resources. Once again
this list is non-exhaustive and further field assessment of
the constraints area would reveal more comprehensively the
level of dairy farming in the area.
Dairy farms are
particularly sensitive to the location of a major road. A
dairy farm is entirely dependent on the land parcel or grazing
paddocks adjacent to the farmyard. The location of a major
road may cause severance of the land parcel into smaller areas
or severance of the access from the yard to the grazing paddocks.
This would have a significant impact on the future viability
of the farm or it's continuation in dairying.
Tillage and
Sugar Beet Farms
In the study
of the aerial photographs areas were identified where tillage
based farming operations are carried out. This allowed the
comparison of the extent of tillage farming in relation to
the grassland based farming in an area. It also served to
highlight areas where significant levels of tillage are to
be found. Prominent tillage regions are associated with lands
of very high quality and fertile soils. These were generally
located from Athy to Ballitore and extending to Carlow Town
and further south to Muinebheag.
The impact of
the location of a major road on a tillage farm is not as significant
as the impact on a dairy or stud farm. It may lead to the
severance of an area or parcel of land. Severance will result
in access problems for machinery to the severed area.
The location
of a major road in the region of Carlow Town may have an indirect
impact on the sugar beet industry. The soil type and the climatic
conditions favour the growing of sugar beet in the area. The
sugar factory located in Carlow Town has contributed to a
high proportion of farms in the area growing sugar beet. The
location of a major road in the area would have a similar
significant affect on the individual farms as covered under
Tillage farms above. An additional impact may be in access
problems created as a result of the road location and the
severance of minor local roads. These may impede the delivery
of beet to the factory in Carlow Town.
Rural Environment
Protection Scheme (REPS) Farms
The study area
has among the lowest uptake of the Rural Environment Protection
Scheme in the country. This reflects the high percentage of
intensive farmers and the high soil qualities. The scheme
is designed to encourage the farmer to farm less intensively
and to do so in an environmentally friendly manner.
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