Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

My Lords, before speaking to this amendment I must declare an interest as a vice-president of the Council for National Parks. I believe that the legislation has served us very well since 1949. When we debated the proposals in the Private Member’s Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Renton of Mount Harry, and then under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, I do not recall that we questioned whether the criteria were right. I think we accepted that the criteria were adequate at that point. We debated a great many issues, but the criteria were not among them. I support the government amendments. My worry with Amendment No. 132, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, is the question of where in England we could find,"““a high degree of relative naturalness””." I do not know Wales and Scotland so well, but perhaps it is possible to find areas there that can display,"““a high degree of relative naturalness””." However, I think that it would be the absolute nail in the coffin for the designation of any more national parks or AONBs in England. Looking at the areas I know best, such as the Holnicote estate on Exmoor—I will not take up your Lordships’ time by listing them all—I can think of none that displays,"““a high degree of relative naturalness””." They are all very much man-made areas. The Liberal Democrats will therefore be supporting the government amendments on the basis that the provisions have served us well. As for consultation, I believe that consultation has happened through the updating under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. It was, of course, the Meyrick judgment which changed the designation issue. When changes are made in that way, absolutely no consultation takes place. Nevertheless these debates have enabled us to air the issues. However, I join the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, in being puzzled that Clause 97 is dealt with under miscellaneous provisions rather than in this part of the Bill. I would be grateful if the Minister could explain why. Finally, on the funding issue, I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, that it would be tremendous to see always increasing funding for national parks. Realistically, however, the funding levels achieved over the past six years have meant a substantial increase since 1997. While I absolutely accept that several parks have issues about how to deal with all of the pressures with such funding, I do not believe there is a case for asking for greater funding across-the-board for national parks. Exactly how the common agricultural policy is to work out for less favoured areas—upland areas, in particular—will be a critical matter. That does not apply only to areas in national parks, it applies across the board. On funding, that is the sort of area that concerns me regardless of whether it is in a national park.