Clause 1 - Liability of officers etc. forobstruction by body corporate
Highways (Obstruction by Body Corporate) Bill
9:30 am
Mr Michael Jabez Foster (Hastings and Rye, Labour)
May I extend my thanks to right hon. and hon. Members who have agreed to take part in consideration in Committee of this important Bill? I also crave your indulgence, Mr. Pike, as I wish to say a few words about the principle of the Bill. This is one of those cases in which a Second Reading speech was written but not given. Therefore, it should not be wasted, although I will be brief as this is a brief Bill, albeit with a reasonably important purpose.
The Bill is designed to amend the Highways Act 1980 by applying section 314 of that Act to the offences involved in wilfully obstructing a highway, under section 137 of the Act, and of failing to comply with a court order requiring removal of the obstruction, under section 137ZA, a provision that was added later. If enacted, the Bill will enable proceedings to be taken and, most importantly, enforced against officers of a corporate body who are responsible for obstructing rights of way.
This is a short Bill, but it has a big purpose. It is designed to fulfil the objective of earlier legislation, which is to ensure that every citizen is free to use public rights of way without obstruction. In that context, a highway means a right of way over which the public have a right: footpaths, bridleways, byways and so on, as well as ordinary roads, of course.
Why is the Bill necessary? During the 1990s, Kate Ashbrook, a woman of some resolve, fought a campaign to ensure that a 140-year-old right of way in East Sussex was freed from obstruction. Significant publicity surrounded the case because the true ownership of the land, or certainly the control of it, was vested in one Nicholas van Hoogstraten. However, it is important to say that the Bill is not directed against an individual. Kate Ashbrook's campaign came to the attention of Parliament, which passed the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. That Act contained a measure that amended the 1980 Act.