Exploatering av jordbruksmark

Sammanfattning: The fact that agricultural land is being exploited has become a more present question and has created a debate regarding the protection of agricultural land. The legislation of this protection is found in Chapter 3 Section 4 of the Swedish Environmental Code (1998:808) which states that agriculture is a national interest. Furthermore, it states that land suitable for cultivation may be exploited for essential public interests, but only if it is shown that no other land can be used. This Section has been interpreted in a vast amount of Swedish court cases, with different outcomes, which will be demonstrated in this report. In order to understand how this section has been practiced, a study has been made over cases regarding building permits and zoning plans in the Land and Environmental Court. Interviews with representatives from Swedish municipalities with high ratio of agricultural land has also been conducted in order to receive understanding of the Section and its application. To deepen the understanding of the application, interviews with delegates from Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund and the Swedish Transportation Administration have been conducted. Historically, exploitation of agricultural land – construction for other purposes than agriculture – peaked between the 1950s and 1980s and was than at around 2700 hectares per year. During the last twenty years, the amount of exploitation has been around 600 hectares per year. The total amount of agricultural land in Sweden is estimated to 3 million hectares whereof around 85 % is arable land and the rest is pasture. The agricultural land in Sweden is graded, on measurements from the 1960s, between 1 – 10 where 10 is the most fertile soil. During the interviews, it was stated that there is a lack of land to build in in order to meet the demand for housing and that the lack of buildable land is expected to increase. In many cases, this lead to the fact that agricultural land is exploited and this is argued for in the layout plans made by the municipalities. In general, the municipalities are of the understanding that agricultural land should be protected but that it must be used when it is the only option. The purpose of the report is to evaluate how the Land and Environmental Court apply the legislation, the municipalities’ and other actors’ attitude towards the actual legislation, as well as if the legislation on the protection of agricultural land should be changed. The Supreme Land and Environmental Court has applied Chapter 3 Section 4 of the Swedish Environmental Code in cases regarding building permits and zoning plans. On the notion of “agricultural land suitable for cultivation”, the court has deemed it applicable relating to both arable land and pasture. The Court has stated that the grading of the soil does not affect the potential to cultivate the land and that the land that a farmer cultivates is suitable for cultivation. Also, the land must be taxed as agricultural property in order to be defined as agricultural land. It has been stated that housing is of essential public interest in the context of the legislation, though only when several housing units are concerned. Nevertheless, in cases regarding multiple zoning plans and building permits, where essential public interests have been deemed ascertained, these have been declined based on the fact that alternative localizations have not been evaluated. However, this report show that how an assessment concluding that a different location cannot be used when exploiting agricultural land has not been elucidated by the Supreme Land and Environmental. It has merely concluded that this has not been assessed. The report concludes that the scope of application of the actual legislation is restrictive. Furthermore, the report concludes that the application of the legislation is complex and diffuse and demanding for the municipalities, requiring extensive knowledge and assessments. Finally, it is concluded that pasture not suitable for cultivation is equated with the most fertile land in the country in the assessment regarding the question on grants for exploitation.