Who should be thinking about a Higher Tier agreement? Higher Tier is for environmentally significant sites, commons and woodlands where more complex management requires support from Natural England or the Forestry Commission, that include multi-year options and capital items.
Common land and woodlands can only be supported through a Higher Tier agreement.
There is support for SSSI and scheduled monuments in both Mid and Higher Tier. Higher Tier offers more flexibility with the options requirements. On these the CS manual advises: ‘Applicants with an SSSI or Scheduled Monument on their land may find it more appropriate to apply for a Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship agreement.’
Expiring HLS agreements may want to apply for Higher Tier. This year there more options in Mid-Tier that may suit applicants needs. The Higher-Tier options now in Mid-Tier can be found here.
The Higher Tier manual and form for requesting an application pack is available on gov.uk. Application packs can be requested by phone.
Higher Tier Deadlines
- Request application packs by 9 March
- Deadline to submit initial application 13 April
- Notified of success or failure by early June
- Negotiations on scheme detail concluded by mid-September
- Agreements start 1 January 2019