Commons Bill [HL]

I want to speak briefly to the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Livsey. I declare an interest as an owner of common land in the north of England. The difficulty with the amendment is that the owners’ grazing rights are not rights as such. They are not rights of common. They are owned by the owner of the land, so are subsumed as part of the surplus grazing with which the owner is entitled to do what he wants. This is going to change quite often from time to time. It could change with negotiations with English Nature; it could change with negotiations through the other graziers. If the amendment of the noble Lord were to be accepted, it would put a tremendous burden on the whole process of registration, which could lead to a certain degree of chaos. I hope the noble Lord will take   that into account and perhaps withdraw his amendment accordingly.