Years ago I applied for setaside for some of the grassland, The postman didnt take the application so I missed the deadline, just as well , upon re reading the rules and conditions that idea fell by the way side , Trees , plant trees the forestry man said , you get money he said ,( use my mates firm to plant the trees he said ) looked in depth at that , taking into account trees , shelters, weeding ,fencing etc etc we would gain £75 approx a year ( 27 years ago ) but only if every thing was to the FC's satisfaction each year. In the end we went it alone, Mrs RTB planted over 3000 trees ,( I did some too
), purchased trees and shelters our selves , had our own selection too.
Then it was wild life corridors between crofts, now that was well thought out, no . both neighbours each side went with the idea so they planted the correct vegetation used the approved fencing too , cost a lot and the grant didn't cover it. Funny thing is we have more wildlife on our land now , all the timber and fire wood for the rest of our days and I can do what the heck I like with my land ( withing the law ) as I'm not beholden to any funding agency.
Grants , Pah! no such thing as a free lunch.
And now I can look out over our Moss (SSSI) , forest, and grassland . Owe nothing to no one knowing Mrs RTB and my self did this by our own hand(s)
Sorry starting to rant