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Commons Bill [HL]

The noble Earl has asked an interesting question. There may be some implications in the sale of the land and there ought to be at least an opportunity to comment on it. Perhaps ““objection”” in the amendment is a little strong. It is in the interests of graziers, for example, that they know what is going on. The noble Earl should not be too alarmed but there have been cases of multi-national companies wishing to purchase lord of the manorships on some common land, and some companies have acquired interests and become lords of the manor. It is one thing for a traditional landowner to purchase the common land from someone else, but the world is a changed place. In our area, for example, the national park has bought the lord of the manorship of a huge area. It is a good organisation and informed everyone of what it was doing. But there are instances of other large organisations taking an interest in this and we feel that there should be at least a period when comment can be made and that people should know what is going on.