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Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I did not intend to speak to this amendment but I believe that the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, said that it was not intended to give automatic primacy to the environment. The brief from the Campaign to Protect Rural England states:"““The proposal for a conflict resolution mechanism does not mean that natural environment objectives should take automatic precedence . . . The supporters of a conflict resolution mechanism have no intention to change the purpose of Natural England as the Government has described it””." Then I read the amendment and I wonder whether it is correctly drafted to meet the objectives that the noble Baroness mentioned, as it states clearly:"““In the event of a conflict arising between any of the aims included in the general purpose, Natural England shall give priority to the aim in subsection (2)(a) and (b) over any other paragraph in subsection (2)””." As the CPRE tells us, that primacy is not intended, so I wonder whether the drafting of the amendment would achieve what the noble Baroness requires.