Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]

I thank the Government Whip for his intervention. Many mistakes have been made in the past. There were 3,000 appeals against the mapping following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, when DEFRA and the Countryside Agency were given responsibility to deliver a right to walk freely on access land and 2,000 of these appeals were upheld. Why have local authorities not been given a formal role in the process? Some concessions have been made but Lord Hunt said in the Joint Committee in the other place that""if a local authority decided it wanted to undertake works itself, which it would then be responsible for, the costs would fall on the authority."" Local authorities should have been the Government's first choice for mapping out the pathway, and they should have received the funding with which to do so. They would have done so informed by local accountability to their electors. They have the local knowledge, contacts and expertise that Natural England lacks. As Lord Taylor of Holbeach said, excluding local authorities from a formal and influential role will deny the route the necessary infrastructure to turn it from an expensive quirk that is used only by the extremely determined to a national resource that provides enjoyment for many. How will the route operate without sensible access roads, adequate parking, and co-ordinated public transport, and how can these be provided except by proper involvement of the authority responsible for them? The issue of compensation is one that has come up time and time again. The Government have said that they will not be setting up a compensation scheme for those who lose out financially because of the pathway. This seems to go against the accepted opinion of many. The Select Committee issued a report last year which said that""Natural England should be able to compensate land owners and occupiers who can demonstrate they will lose money as a result of the proposals."" The Countryside Alliance pointed out that owning a property next to the coast can""constitute a very immediate asset,"" especially for many businesses and that the path""will have a direct and negative impact on such businesses where privacy, the view, tranquillity etc are key assets of their business."" Countless organisations told the Select Committee that businesses and home owners should receive compensation. The National Farmers Union said that there were "many examples" of where a proposed coastal route would cause""both direct and indirect loss of income or land"" and that "adequate compensation" would be required. Even the Ramblers said that it would""support compensation being paid in the case of demonstrable and significant losses."" It would be a gross injustice if the Government were to continue to maintain that they would not provide that in implementing their policy proposals. DEFRA's own impact assessment stated that it would be likely that some residential properties would command a lower value were public access rights to be created on, or across part of, a property and that there may be a negative impact on businesses that derive competitive benefit from the availability of exclusive access. I believe that this sets a very bad precedent indeed. Natural England's plans will affect all the non-exempt land around the coastline that does not already have decent access. In some sections of the pathway, it will be possible to make use of existing trails that are in place, but this still leaves up to a quarter of the coastline that will need a route to be created from scratch. Thousands of properties will be affected. The Secretary of State has said that""land, even private land, is a public good and we should assert our right to enjoy it."" I find that simply unacceptable. It is not the right of anybody, least of all Government, to come swooping into somebody's private home to disrupt their enjoyment of it. As David Fursdon, president of the Country Land and Business Association, said:""It shifts the balance from the protection of the individual to the power of the state."" Labour Members have said that it is an extremely popular provision. It may be popular, but it is still possible for it to be wrong. It would be even more unacceptable if, having brought about a reduction in the value of a business or property—having swooped in on it—the Government were to fail to offer anything in the way of compensation. I therefore appeal to the Secretary of State to consider again the issue of compensation and to listen to the voices that have all been raised—some supportive of the Bill's proposed powers—to urge that progress can be made through voluntary means and to resist what one of my colleagues muttered earlier was the Stalinist tendency of believing that we should bully and push people into doing things that we can eventually bring most people to do through patient negotiation, and thereby provide the access to the coast that my constituents and others throughout the country would find fully acceptable.