Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 307:"Page 22, line 28, leave out subsection (2) and insert—" ““(   )   In paragaph 1, for sub-paragraphs (2) to (6) (constitution of National Park authorities) substitute— ““(2)   A National Park authority shall consist of an appropriate balance of national and local members, consisting of— (a)   a specified number of directly elected members who live or work within the National Park boundary; and (b)   a specified number of other members to be appointed by the Secretary of State; and ““specified”” means specified in the relevant order. (3)   The total number of elected members must exceed the number of other members having regard to the minimum proportions for the Secretary of State’s appointees as described in subsection (4) below. (4)   The total number of members who are appointed by the Secretary of State shall— (a)   as respects any National Park authority for a National Park in England, be a minimum proportion of 25 per cent; (b)   as respects any National Park authority for a National Park in Wales, be a minimum proportion of 25 per cent. (5)   The Secretary of State shall consult all relevant authorities and interested bodies in specifying the number of local authority members, parish members and other members to be appointed by him in the relevant order.”””” The noble Baroness said: The main difference between the present system and that which this amendment proposes is that the proportion of national park authority members who do not represent the national interest shall be directly elected. I reiterate my interest as a vice-president of the Council for National Parks. This is not the view of that body. However, we on the Liberal Democrat Benches believe that, given the increased social and economic duties of national park authorities and the fact that they now have full planning duties, the national interest should constitute no less than 25 per cent of the membership of the national park authority—that would safeguard all the national interests—and that the people best able to represent the social, economic and environmental interests of the park as a whole are those people who live and work within the park. In the same way as one would expect members of any other local authority to either live or work within the area they represent, we believe that this should equally apply to those representing a national park. At the moment, a national park member may live 40 or 50 miles or more from the park, even though they are an indirectly elected member. While many may absolutely have the parks’ best interest at heart and may do their best at representing it, there is no doubt that it makes a difference if you do not live or work within the park. We expect people to be representative of their local authority because they understand how that community works—they understand its wishes and desires. How are national park members different from local authority members? It is true that you could end up with the parish council members from within the park, but those who are from the principal authorities—the district and county councils—could live outside the park. Then, there are the national members as well, so you could end up with a situation where very few people either lived or worked within the park but could still be on the national park authority. As the Government take forward the legislation, this is an appropriate moment to look again at the issue. I beg to move.