Clause 290
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Martin Salter (Reading West, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman is making a strong, powerful case. He talks about the powers available to the Secretary of State for the closures of footpaths and rights of way in an emergency, such as a foot and mouth outbreak, but of course in the countryside—he will know this as a landowner and a farmer—if people have got used to using a certain route and there are no people on the ground to enforce closures, perhaps the best thing is to ensure that that footpath does not run in a potentially dangerous place in the first instance.