New Clause 6
Commons Bill [Lords]
3:00 pm
David Drew (Stroud, Labour)
I want to ask the Minister a question about the problem of easements, which I have mentioned on various occasions. I thought that we had clarified the matter under the NERC Act, following questions that arose from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Can the Minister clarify that the new clause is not necessary, because what the right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay) achieved in that Act stands in primacy over this measure? I could be persuaded that we need to nail the matter down even more exactly, because it is a great problem in my area, and I expect that it also affects the hon. Member for North Cornwall and others.
Where there is a lack of clarity about rights of way—particularly vehicular rights of way—there should be some attempt to make it clear that people crossing common land have extant rights of way. That has become an issue in my area, where there is a dispute with the National Trust. There is an understandable demand for a body to take ownership of pieces of land, because some people have had difficulty in selling their property in the absence of clarification about their rights, particularly vehicular rights of way, and whether they should be paying the so-called owner of the land. I hope that the Minister can provide such clarification, so that I do not need to support the new clause.