Clause 296
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Andrew George (St Ives, Liberal Democrat)
The amendment would clarify the relationship of the coastal path with available ferry services. In estuaries where a ferry service exists, but does not run all year round or is limited and operates only on certain days or during certain hours, there are concerns that it might not provide continuity or connectivity with the coastal path.
Several user groups have concerns regarding the use of ferries in the discharge of the access duty as set out in clause 290(7). The use of seasonal ferries or those with a limited running period as part of the coastal pathway will lead to disruptions and gaps in the continuous route. That was confirmed during debates in the House of Lords when Lord Hunt of Kings Heath said that
“it would not be impossible for a summer ferry service to be used as part of a coastal access route. It is an amenity and enables people to cross the estuary. If the service is not available during the winter, clearly the pathway will have to stop at the ferry point.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 30 March 2009; Vol. 709, c. 930.]
As a result of that and other comments, the use of ferries as a means of maintaining continuity in estuaries was raised on Second Reading. The amendment would allow Natural England the flexibility to look at whether an alternative route could be put in place for use by the public during periods in which the ferries did not operate. Where that is practical, it would alleviate the problem. There are a large number of examples where an intermittent ferry service might provide the coastal link in an estuarine situation—the Fleetwood to Knott End-on-Sea route in the Lancashire coastal area is one. On the south-west coastal path, the ferry across the river Torridge from Appledore to Instow saves 12 km of walking, but operates only in summer. There is also only a limited ferry service from St. Mawes to Place creek in the parish of St. Anthony on the Roseland peninsula, and from Exmouth to Starcross in south Devon. The primary purpose of this aspect of the Bill is to maintain a continuous path around the coast. Where the link is essentially provided by an intermittent ferry service, Natural England should look for an alternative continuous route which is all-year-round and more accessible. There should be a duty on Natural England to identify a continuous path. I hope that the Minister will take into account the concerns raised in debates in the House of Lords.