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Commons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister. I certainly will pass on the relevant information relating to the item that I added. It was extremely important to bring it to the notice of the House. I apologise for its complexity. I assure noble Lords that I have loads more papers which are even more complex. I hope that I explained the matter in a fairly informal and straightforward manner. The Minister said that this is a matter of balance and that he thought the Government had it right. I understand that the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, cannot support my Amendment No. 7, but I am very grateful to my noble friend Lord Renton for saying that he thinks we have the matter right. I believe that we have it right. If the Minister does not think that there have been problems to date, or he is hoping not to have problems with this measure, he ought to reflect on the difficulties that the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill—which we shall shortly consider—will pose given the huge number of problems that have been raised with regard to rights of way. Having the shorter time period would be a much better and wiser move. Although I am grateful for the Minister’s kind words, I do not agree with him and I wish to test the opinion of the House. On Question, Whether the said amendment (No. 7) shall be agreed to? Their Lordships divided: Contents, 84; Not-Contents, 203 [Amendment No. 8 not moved.]