Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 192:"Page 5, line 23, leave out subsection (4)." The noble Baroness said: This is a probing amendment designed to discover the nature of the proposed experimental schemes and the probable areas of land likely to be affected. We should also like to know what type of land is likely to be acquired, and its location relative to other land owned by the same person. If Natural England will look around for small parcels of land—say, at the edges of woods, fields or ponds, or close to riverbanks—there will probably be no important problems at all. If, however, the requirement is for a few acres in the middle of a field or wood, the knock-on pressures on that landowner could be significant. The price to be paid under compulsory purchase legislation may be inadequate to compensate for the difficulties of the farming in the rest of that land. Is there any overwhelming reason why Natural England should not purchase land in the open marketplace, in the normal way? I beg to move.