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Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

My hon. Friend makes an important point and I understand his concern for the welfare of his constituents. I am not 100 per cent. sure that this Bill would do anything in particular to facilitate the cause that he advances, but I am sure that he will find a way to raise the matter in Committee. The Bill will establish a flexible structure of delivery that is both fit for purpose today and able to evolve to meet challenges ahead. It brings together the strengths of English Nature, the Countryside Agency’s landscape access and recreation role and DEFRA’s rural development service to establish a new independent and powerful non-departmental public body—natural England—as one integrated agency. In natural England we are, for the first time ever in England, uniting responsibility for biodiversity and landscape—in rural, urban and coastal areas—with promoting access and recreation. Our natural environment helps to make England what it is, from our beautiful coastlines to our historic dry stone walls and hedgerows. We have stunning landscapes, rivers and lakes, set in Shakespeare’s ““silver sea””, a unique geodiversity and the flora and fauna that rely on this rich variety of habitats and ecosystems. The establishment of natural England will help to ensure that our distinctive landscapes and green spaces are the best they can be and that the habitats and ecosystems supporting our precious biodiversity are conserved and enhanced.