Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I shall speak in the name of my noble friend Lord Taylor to Amendments A362A and A362AC and support the amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, in this group, to which his name is attached. The noble Lord’s first amendment encapsulates a very important measure and seeks to modify some of the extensive powers that are currently envisaged in the Bill. We support it in principle; the question that arises is where something of that importance should be placed in the Bill to ensure that it is accorded sufficient emphasis. Clause 286, as the first clause of this part of the Bill, is bound to be the one that receives the most attention, but the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Geddes, would achieve a very similar effect in Clause 293. On the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, on whose word would it be that this land was necessary for a master plan? The discussion that has centred on the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Geddes, gave a fairly clear indication of how that could be achieved. On our own amendments, I declare my peripheral interest as a farmer and landowner in Scotland. I think that there will be general agreement in the Committee on the Government’s approach of taking up the extension provided in the CROW Act to include coastal land as the legislative framework for this part of the Bill. We have now had eight years over which the application of the Act has developed; much experience has been gained of the opportunities that it offers and the constraints that it puts on land managers. The necessity for mapping has meant that the implementation has been rather slower than had been envisaged, but the experience is there none the less. At the same time, one of the great strengths of the Act has been that the detail of excepted land has been clearly defined. Has there been any need to vary those exceptions, using any exceptional powers, as the process has developed? That is a critical issue when we come to consider what similar powers should be available under this Bill. I and a number of other noble Lords whom I see here were involved in the passing of the CROW Act and well remember how each of these excepted items was debated at some length. With the time available on this Bill, the time that we can spend on the detail that we look into will be very truncated. After Clause 293 of the Bill, our Amendments A362A and A362AC, like the others in the group, seek to add distinct exceptions to the list in Schedule 1 to the CROW Act. Amendment A362A is mainly a probing amendment about land associated with sporting facilities. At present, Schedule 1 to CROW has, as excepted ground, golf courses and race tracks. It is a great relief to see that a government proposal in their paper on possible ways in which they will implement Section 3A is to add school playing fields; it looked like a great mistake that they were not included in the first place. There is the question of other playing fields—or areas where there is a charge for access; that is the easiest way in which to sum up that particular constraint on the countryside. I think that the Minister was promising to offer the Committee more detail on when he thinks the proposals for a coastal path may require him to amend or modify what has already been found adequate in the context of CROW. The fact that that is proposed raises very great concern; my first concern is on the question of sporting facilities. As someone who has declared an interest in the running of a golf club in Scotland, my concern has been raised by the draft regulation which talks of bringing areas of golf courses into coastal access, not by amending the Bill but by order. I notice that the draft regulation qualifies that by saying that there is a wish to balance the interests of walkers and golfers. From my understanding, it is hard to see what sort of balance you would be able to achieve. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Oldham, is an accomplished golfer and captain of your Lordships' golf team. I do not expect that to colour his final opinion in any way, but it may help him to have a bit more understanding of what I am about to say. In any quality links golf course, when there is a competition day, there could be three or more holes running along the shore. On such a day, continuously for about eight hours, there will be groups of four golfers setting off every seven minutes, which means that there will be altogether about 272 golfers out on the day expecting to get their round over in a little over three and a half hours. The progress of the speed of play is a vital ingredient in the satisfaction that is enjoyed. A hold-up on any hole at any time does not just hold up the people on that hole but produces a ripple effect right throughout the whole field to all the ensuing players. It would not be long in resulting in 272 angry and frustrated golfers who find that it is taking them about four and a half hours to complete the course. If there is to be any balancing, this is one of those areas in which there will have to be a permanent alternative route so that, as at present in Scotland, there is no access near the playing area if golf is in play. The second issue to consider with reference to the Government’s paper is the huge invasion of privacy involved in the case of a new coastal route that passes within 20 metres of a dwelling house. Noble Lords are probably aware that 20 metres is barely the length of one-half of the Library. This should be considered only if it could be argued that the path was not visible from within the dwelling, probably by being behind a wall with no apertures or something like that. There may be areas where there is a wish to squeeze the path by, but to have it going close to somebody’s window would be a great burden on the people living in the house and would affect the value of the property. Equally, we have received representation from the National Farmers’ Union about access within 20 metres of buildings occupied by animals. In this case, there are safety and security issues, which, like many other things, were debated at length under the then CROW Bill. Our last amendment is more precise and is to do with safety concerns and biodiversity. The provision says that salt marshes and mudflats should be excepted. We have discussed some of the issues that arise when there is public access to those areas; one wants to avoid having to plaster a pristine situation with endless safety notices. That is the sort of thing that I have seen on the south-western coastal path, where more or less every hole in the hedge on the top of the cliff was marked with a sign saying "Danger—do not go further". There is a slight difference in the amount of responsibility that landowners and possibly the access authority will feel in dealing with casual walkers; it will not be dealing with mountaineers, who, in spite of their anarchic tendencies, would have great loyalty to their own organisation. Many of these areas of salt marshes and mudflats will in fact be below the springtide level, but nearly all will be of importance to wildfowl. The amendment is supported by the briefing that we received from the conservation bodies represented by the Wildlife and Countryside Link. As a footnote, I wonder what the Government envisage about their power on coastal access if—I say this in a light-hearted way—at any time they find that this legislation is exploited by boatloads of illegal immigrants. I am sure that it would not be considered welcome if all those using the coastal path were required to carry identification or a passport.