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A farmer has been left out of pocket after his adviser entered information incorrectly under the Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme (GLAS) tranche one application on the Department of Agriculture's website.
The farmer had submitted, through the adviser, a parcel of land with two actions listed, namely Low Input Permanent Pasture and Traditional Hay Meadow.
It was also submitted that the maps were misinterpreted when completing the application and that areas were incorrectly assigned to these actions and an amendment to the application was requested.
The appeal officer also found that an information letter sent with the GLAS tranche one clearly said:
Once an application is submitted, it will not be possible to make changes and Department staff will not have access to retrieve, amend or delete submitted applications.
The appeals officer acknowledged that the information provided by the farmer to his/her adviser was not entered correctly via the Department’s online system. Notwithstanding this, the Department clearly outlined that there would be no opportunity to change the plan once submitted.
The appeal was disallowed.
The case is highlighted in the annual report of the Agriculture Appeals Office for 2017 released this week.
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