Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I will speak also to Amendments A279 to A281 in the same group. I have just realised that the heading that I put on my notes reads "line of route". I do not mean the Line of Route, but the line of the route of the coastal path, and the interruptions in it. The purpose of these amendments is to strengthen the wording in the Bill. The Bill states: ""In discharging the coastal access duty, Natural England and the Secretary of State … must have regard to … the desirability of that route adhering to the periphery of the coast and providing views of the sea"." I think that I know what that means, although "having regard to" the desirability suggests that they have to weigh the matter in the balance and decide how desirable it is, rather than saying that it is desirable. My amendment inserts a, ""requirement that wherever reasonably practicable that route must adhere"" to the coast. It puts in a presumption that Natural England and the Secretary of State will not simply consider how desirable it may be but will actually try to do it. Amendment A281 alters the "desirability of ensuring" to a "need to ensure" that, ""interruptions to that route are kept to a minimum"." Again, the Bill is saying, "Let us see how desirable it is that these interruptions are kept to a minimum". I am saying that we need to ensure that they are kept to a minimum. Amendment A280 states that there should be a, ""requirement that where it is not practicable for that route to adhere to the periphery of the coast, it should take a route as close to the sea as reasonably practicable"." At the moment, the Bill says that the route should adhere to the coast. But if it cannot adhere to the coast—adhering means sticking close to—it does not say what it should do. It ought to say that, even if the route cannot adhere to the coast, it should be as close to the coast as possible. The purpose of the amendments is to strengthen the link between the line of the route and the coast. I beg to move.