Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

It always upsets me when I find myself not in total agreement with the noble Baroness, Lady Miller. Wherever we sit in this House, we have the utmost regard for her dedication and commitment to the issues that we discussing. Frankly, I am bemused by part of her proposal. Naturally, I am delighted that she is in line with part of the amendment put down in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Dubs, but I am a bit bemused by the rest of her proposal. I always looked at the Liberal Party as one that regards itself as the praetorian guard for the principle of local government and local democracy. It seems to me therefore that the best way in which the views of the local community can be represented in the administration of the parks is to see the local authorities—whether local councils, parish councils or district councils—represented in the way that is now provided for. I do not quite see what this new embellishment on democracy would achieve that is qualitatively better than concentrating on that. I warmly support my noble friend Lord Dubs in his objectivity as someone who does not carry any responsibility in a park body; official or unofficial. It is incumbent on us all to remember that the parks are national parks, as my noble friend emphasised. They are there for the recreation and regeneration of the people of England and Wales as a whole. As the pressures and stresses of society increase, they become more important as a resource of this kind. It is therefore tremendously important to ensure that, in their administration, the interests of those from the rest of the nation who enjoy them are well represented and ensured. I am worried about the Government’s proposal. If one took an extreme example of how the cookie might crumble, it is not impossible that you could have a local authority element of 95 per cent, and that would leave precious little room for those who were supposed to represent the general public as a whole by being the national members. I have already paid enough compliments to the Minister this evening. He knows how much I admire him and how much I am behind this Bill, whatever my sense of bereavement and grief at having been denied the opportunity to support him on specific legislation this evening. I would like just to make this suggestion to him. I am sure he will agree on reflection that what is now being proposed by the Government was not a matter for consultation in the context of the recent reviews of the English and Welsh national park authorities. That means that the reservations and hopes expressed today become all the more important because they represent a very considerable body of opinion in the country. While I would not therefore necessarily look to my noble friend to concede the point tonight, I hope that he will, with his usual goodwill, give a real undertaking to the Committee that he will take away this point about a 25 per cent guaranteed national membership, think about it carefully, and bring back some constructive proposals of his own on Report.