Land Development

Agricultural land use in the country was radically overhauled after the Second World War, when farmers were encouraged to redistribute parcels of land among themselves. The aim of this government-led policy was to expand and flatten the existing parcels to create new ones and increase productivity. An important factor driving this process was the introduction of the tractor. It brought radical changes to the landscape, causing the disappearance of ditches, hedgerows, woods, rows of trees and country lanes. The 1960s saw growing social criticism of this approach, and increasing demand for a policy that embraced nature conservation, infrastructure, recreation and cultural history. In 1985 the Land Development Act replaced the old Land Consolidation Act. The new act introduced new forms of land use and was more comprehensive in its aims than its predecessor.