Commons Bill [HL]

I have tabled Amendments Nos. 12, 19 and 21. Amendment No. 12 relates to the new rights of common created where practical preference is given to land contiguous with an existing common; that is, contiguous to a dominant holding. We believe that it is sensible to try wherever practical to bring that about. I am sure that we all know of cases where land is perhaps 10 or 20 miles away from the common, which does not seem to be a very desirable state of affairs. The purpose of Amendment No. 12 is to try, wherever possible, to make the land contiguous with the dominant holding. Amendment No. 19 provides that where there are acute agricultural sustainability issues, they should be the primary consideration, and,"““the commons registration authority may consult with the appropriate national authority in forming an opinion under subsection (4)””." Agricultural sustainability was a very big issue at Second Reading. In passing, we are keen on the description ““agricultural sustainability”” but feel that a definition of it should appear elsewhere in the Bill. I know that the Minister has made some attempts to define that kind of objective. Amendment No. 21 states:"““The opinion referred to in subsection (4)(b) must be commensurate with any agricultural sustainability criteria provided for in regulations by the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales””." We believe that the objective is to ensure that a refusal of a right of common must be judged according to agricultural sustainability criteria; that is, where under- or over-grazing, for example, is taking place, it ought to be possible to judge from an agricultural point of view whether the animals with the grazing rights can be sustained. A commons registration authority is not always equipped to deal with such an issue. The matter can be referred to the Secretary of State or the Minister in the National Assembly for advice. In our experience, rural commons registration authorities seem to be much more capable of judging agricultural sustainability issues than urban authorities. Cases need to be judged according to those criteria.