Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

Amendment 277 is about the safety of the coastal route. We have discussed safety to some extent already and I do not want to say very much about it. Nevertheless, it would be helpful to get a statement from the Minister that, in relation to the coastal route as opposed to the coastal margin that we discussed previously, when it comes to safety, people will still be expected to look after themselves to a reasonable extent. While it is fairly clear to me that the provision of the coastal route has to have more regard to the safety of the people using it than of people going and doing whatever they are doing on the coastal margin when they should be responsible for themselves, people walking on routes such as this in the open countryside nevertheless have a considerable responsibility to look after themselves; they are not mollycoddled to the extent that the sense of freedom and adventure from walking along this route is nullified. My other amendment in this group is Amendment A282, which is about the question of fair balance. I know that the Minister will put a great deal of emphasis on fair balance because he believes that it is being fair to all sides, but does he not accept that if this coastal route is going to exist and be successful, there will be occasions—when the alignment, the amount of spreading room or whatever is being discussed and decided—where there will have to be a presumption in favour of the route existing but it is difficult to meet what the landowners and land users might think of as fair balance? It is not just a question of looking at the interests on both sides, throwing them up and seeing where they come down in the middle. There are going to be occasions when it will be necessary to push the projects through against what the landowners will think are their legitimate interests, and it will not be possible in all cases to meet what they think are their requirements. This route will be most successful if Natural England, when putting it together, can produce a great deal of consensus, involve everyone in the reports and proposals and come up with a generally agreed route locally. But sometimes that will not be possible and there will have to be a presumption in favour of the route against the objections. Is that the Government’s position, and, if not, how do they expect to get the route through? I beg to move.