In summary the NFU welcomes the proposed exemptions to deal with serious damage to property and crops and to prevent the spread of disease. This will help farmers to maintain the farmed landscape which delivers high quality, safe food alongside iconic accessible landscapes and high quality habitats.
There does need to be a clear appeal mechanism to challenge Natural England’s decision as to whether or not an exemption applies for a particular licence. There should also be a review, say after a year, to ensure the licence exemption is working as anticipated.
It is imperative that activities farmers undertake to increase the resilience of their land and others to flooding is not double charged through both the Environment Agency’s Environment Permitting Regulations and Natural England’s wildlife licence charges.
Here's the NFU’s full response.