Commons Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 132:"After Clause 26, insert the following new clause—"    ““TRANSFORMATION TO STATUTORY COMMONS ASSOCIATION    A voluntary commons association may apply to the appropriate national authority to be a statutory commons association.”” The noble Lord said: In proposing Amendments Nos. 132 and 133, I will try to move the debate on. I shall not spend a long time on this. Amendment No. 132 gives an opportunity for a locally made decision that may encourage some local commons associations who wish to do so the opportunity to become statutory commons associations. A voluntary commons association may apply to the appropriate national authority to be a statutory commons association. I am referring to one voluntary commons association, not necessarily a lot of them combining, although that might be part of the process if other local commons and commoners associations wish to go along with that. At present, nearly all commons associations are voluntary associations anyway. Certainly in Wales the figure is 100 per cent, and, in England, the vast majority are voluntary commons associations. It may be in the interests of the commons associations to be statutory in specific circumstances if that is the wish locally. Environmental management schemes may benefit from grant aid where perhaps there is a vision within a commons association to do some specific things in the management of its common. But that is its decision. All that Amendment No. 132 does is to give the possibility of that opportunity if it so wishes. In other words, it is a gradualist approach to encourage associations that, if they wish to do this, they can do so. Amendment No. 133 is a new clause addressing voluntary commons associations, of which many do not have a precise constitution. Perhaps there will be some active leaders in the commons association who wish to put it on to a footing whereby it adopts a model constitution, which may improve its management. It is entirely up to them whether they wish to do that, but this merely gives them the opportunity to do so if they so wish. I beg to move.