The Environment Agency Wales has issued an announcement which may come as succour to farmers and landowners who have been overcharged for drainage work. The Agency yesterday said landowners who have received questionable bills for drainage work will not necessarily have to pay up if they think their bills are wrong. image expired

The bills are for farmers in Welsh Internal Drainage Districts (IDD), of which there are around 600 in the country. The announcement was made after the EA came under fire from farming unions for issuing bills which frequently contained errors, including out-of-date land ownership and occupation details. The EA’s promise covers payments back-dated six years for services such as annual repairs and maintenance of drainage ditches and streams.

The news comes just as the Agency has issued 14 day payment reminders for bills it distributed in the Spring. Farmers have said they are shocked the agency sent out the reminders, as it had previously pledged to delay posting bills until it had cleared up the irregularities in its records.

The IDD bills may reach into the thousands of pounds; The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has condemned the EA’s decision to send out reminders at all whilst its efforts to update its records are still ongoing, as many have been shown to contain inaccuracies. The Environment Agency Wales said its slow progress was due to the time-consuming task of digitising its records, which it is still undertaking.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency Wales, who yesterday contacted both Welsh farming unions said, “Landowners who have been sent a reminder should ignore it if they intend to query it. There will be no demands for payment until individual queries have been resolved.”