Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

Amendment 12 picks up on a point that we discussed in Committee which was not very satisfactorily resolved. It concerns the question of the MMO’s relationship with coastal communities. We propose: ""In pursuit of its general objective, the MMO shall endeavour to work closely with coastal communities"." This was part of a much broader amendment moved in Committee by my noble friend Lord Tyler. I want to thank my noble friend for the work he put into this during the Committee stage on the days when I was not able to be here because I was otherwise engaged on another Bill. My noble friend has departed this life as far as this Bill is concerned and is now active on the Political Parties and Elections Bill. In Committee he said that he hoped the Minister would accept that the amendment would cover a "lacuna in the Bill". I had to look up the word because I thought it had something to do with the lady of Laguna, but it turned out not to; I think my noble friend just meant that there is a gap. It is very important that the MMO works in close co-operation and, it is hoped, harmony or at least full and frank discussion, with coastal communities. We have noted several times that the MMO is unusual for a quango or body with a strong environmental element in that it deals with an area where there are no people. Most related organisations cover areas of the land where people live, work and play. That is not so clearly the case with the sea. Clearly, people work and play on and in the sea, but they do not live there permanently—except along the coast. Where the sea meets the land is a crucial element of our discussions on the whole of the marine aspect of the legislation and the work of the MMO. It is extremely important that the MMO should work closely both with those living on the coast and their representatives. My noble friend made these points as part of a much longer debate that looked at many of the issues covered by the large group of amendments to Clause 2. It is clear from Hansard that he could not get any satisfactory answers, and the reason for tabling a further amendment today is to raise the issue again and hope that we can be given some today. Of course, parts of the Bill refer to different aspects of the work of the MMO as they relate to the coast and coastal communities while other parts, such as those dealing with IFCAs, relate to communities on the coast as much as they do to the sea. However, we propose that it should be a fundamental principle that people living and working on the coast have to be recognised early on in the Bill at this high-level stage of setting up the MMO and setting out its objectives. If the MMO is not going to work closely with coastal communities, it will get itself into very serious trouble because it will not be able to do what it has to do. This should be in the Bill as a general principle. I beg to move.