Commons Bill [HL]

Perhaps I may follow up on what the noble Lord, Lord Williams, introduced and also speak to our Amendment No. 159. As I understand it, in most cases commons are owned but they are subject to the rights of the commoners and, now, to access under the CROW Act. So the owners presumably have some say over questions of access. At the same time, in an earlier amendment we dealt with the matter of commons associations having powers to control agricultural activities. Amendment No. 159 relates to controlling access to the land by persons or animals who have a right of common, and it does not merely refer to external people. There is one point of which I am not entirely sure. If a farm or agricultural unit has a right of common, that does not necessarily mean that only the owner can go on to the common; presumably he can send a stockman or a variety of people to whom he has given permission. Following on from the thoughts of the noble Lord, Lord Williams of Elvel, if the owner or his colleagues on the common decided that they would like to have a quad bike competition, or something similar, perhaps they could give permission to all the people involved to have access to the common. So the kind of body that the Government are trying to set up would probably in be a better position if it was able to control the access of people who have rights of common. Although the Government have, through Amendment No. 157, removed the requirement to manage heather, gorse, grass and other vegetation, they have introduced the concept of management of vegetation by Amendments Nos. 142 and 150. In the circumstances, it seems unreasonable not to give the association a further function of controlling access, if it should prove necessary, by those who have rights of common. It should be possible, for example, to close the common for a couple of weeks under the terms of the CROW Act to carry out management activities, such as bracken eradication. A serious programme would require that no one or any animal should traverse the land under treatment until it was safe to do so. A commons association should have the power to ban both members of the public and commoners and to round up and remove horses, ponies or sheep, even if they belong to the commoners. We know about the problems of bracken. A lot of bracken has spread wildly in many areas and strong remedial action will be required in the near future. Another issue, which none of us can foresee, may arise in future. If climate change produces more pronounced excesses, commoners may have other things with which to deal.