Herefordshire farmland scheme to get share of £25m fund

Herefordshire will get a share of £25m of government funding to make farming more sustainable

A scheme aiming to make farming in Herefordshire more sustainable has been awarded government funding.

The Wyescapes Landscape Recovery project was revealed to be among 34 in the UK that will receive a share of £25m.

It aims to enhance water quality in the county's rivers, boost biodiversity and cut carbon emissions while making food production more sustainable.

The project will be delivered over a 20-year period.

Reacting to the news, countryside umbrella group Herefordshire Rural Hub, which led the bid, said it was looking forward to developing the scheme.

The application was backed by 36 landowners, who together are responsible for 4,500 hectares (more than 11,000 acres) of farmland across the county.

Over the next two years, each must outline how they will manage their land, what contracts they will issue and how their work will be funded before the two-decade project is delivered.

The funding will come from the landscape recovery scheme run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

A department spokesperson said they could not confirm the exact amount of money Herefordshire would receive "at this moment in time".

This report was compiled by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a partnership between the BBC and regional news organisations to cover news from local authorities and other public service organisations.