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Commons Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 214:"Page 21, line 26, at end insert ““and the timetable to be used””" The noble Baroness said: We have consistently asserted that when timetables are set, they are often set for people other than the Government. The amendment deals with the consent procedure, which is lengthy. Reference in Clause 37 to having regard to the interests of the neighbourhood and others will surely lengthen the process even further. Once an application has been lodged, it is desirable—probably even necessary—that subsequent events occur within strictly observed limits. We contend that the imposition of a timetable is at least as important as defining the form and content of an application or the procedure to be followed in making it. It appears that the Government are preoccupied with the minutiae and may have lost sight of the original stated purpose of the Bill: to give effect to sections 2, 3 and 5 of the common land policy statement of 2002. That is why we propose the amendment. I beg to move.