Clause 297
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
2:25 pm
Huw Irranca-Davies (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Marine and Natural Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Ogmore, Labour)
This response may seem like dĂ(c)jĂ vu, but it is not. It is not even nuanced—it is something quite different. We need to return initially to schedule 1 to the CROW Act, which, as I have said, contains a list of categories of “excepted land”, which is not access land for the purposes of section 2(1) of the Act. It means that there is no right of access to such land under the provisions of the Act. I have listened with interest to the concerns raised by the hon. Member for Newbury about the possible location of the coastal access route as it affects marinas and boatyards in particular. I also recognise that the other place discussed the issue to some extent during its consideration of the Bill. We in the Department have had a number of discussions with boating and marina organisations, such as the British Marine Federation and the Royal Yachting Association. I appreciate that they, too, are worried about how the provisions might impact on their activities, so I am glad that we have engaged with them extensively on such matters.
Before turning to the specific points raised by amendment 50, I wish to say that we have issued two papers that are particularly relevant to our discussions, the first of which is about the new section 3A order and the excepted land provisions required under the Bill. It sets out the main measures that we expect the order to follow and, in particular, our intentions for the various categories of excepted land that we intend either to leave unchanged or to amend, as they may apply to coastal land. I reconfirm our commitment to consult further on the final contents of the section 3A order, which will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure for both Houses to debate and agree. The order will not come into force unless it is approved by such a resolution.
The second paper is entitled “Accommodating future development needs”. It sets out specific ways in which we can ensure that coastal access is appropriate and consistent with the needs of landowners, including future changes in land use. I hope that members of the Committee will allow me just a few moments to explain in some detail how we expect the provisions in the Bill and Natural England’s scheme to affect marinas and boatyards. The excepted land provisions under schedule 1 to the CROW Act set out the categories of land that are excepted for CROW right of access, wherever they occur.
Lord Davies of Oldham said during the debate in Committee in the other place, in respect of marinas, that land such as that
“used for the purposes of recreational boating facilities (including marinas, boatyards and clubs)”
and land used for
“or associated with the use of, sporting facilities”
would
“generally be covered by the excepted land, buildings and their curtilage provision”
so that there was no right of access to it.
He went on to say:
“If it looked as though the buildings and curtilage provision did not make those excepted areas, we would undertake further consultation to see how to tackle that issue.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 30 March 2009; Vol. 709, c. GC913-914.]
Amendment 50 would extend the excepted land category to land
“used for the purpose of manufacturing...or storage of recreational vessels and equipment (including marinas, boatyards and yacht clubs)”.
Let me be clear that we strongly hold the view that such land would generally be covered by the excepted land, buildings and curtilage provision. There is no fixed definition of curtilage, but when the open access provisions of part I of the CROW Act were introduced, the Department helpfully issued guidelines to help identify what was meant by the excepted land categories, which are also in part I of the Act, with the general caveat that
“guidelines do not provide an authoritative interpretation of the legislation, which is a matter for the courts”.
We provided guidelines on the meaning of curtilage, which state:
“The term ‘curtilage’ is not defined, but it generally means a small area, forming part and parcel with the house or building to which it is attached”.
It is usually an area of land that is used, or that is intended to be used, ancillary to that house or building. The guidelines also state:
“In most cases the extent of curtilage will be clear: typically, an enclosure around a dwelling containing a garden, garage and side passage; a walled enclosure outside a barn, or a collection of buildings grouped around a farm house and farm yard.”
Most people would understand—and understand in a legal sense—what curtilage is. The guidelines were drawn up primarily with open country in mind, and we will review them following the passage of the Bill to ensure that they are appropriate for coastal access provisions.