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Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I warmly endorse the noble Lord’s remarks. I have put my name to some of his amendments. He has put the case comprehensively and well. I wish to underline two issues. The first concerns the issue of byways open to all traffic, colloquially known as BOATs. It is difficult to overstate the problem we now face. I am well acquainted with the national parks. We are aware that      for Exmoor National Park Authority alone, 36 applications to reclassify are pending. In the past year, in one part of the Yorkshire Dales alone, 30 footpaths and bridleways have been targeted for upgrade to BOATs by the Trail Riders Fellowship. In the Sussex part of the South Downs, an existing area of outstanding natural beauty, there are nearly 80 byway claims, many deposited in the past few months. I always make a firm principle of the importance of no retrospection in British legislation. It is a cornerstone of the kind of legal system we want to have in our society. However, I believe that there has been an abuse here. It has been clear since the consultation process began that there were to be new provisions. There has been a tremendous amount of sheer naked opportunism in seeking to use the intervening period before legislation becomes applicable to rush in those applications. In that context, the spirit of retrospection is not bridged if one fits a cut-off date, which is the time when any reasonable person can be clear that the new situation will exist. I am somewhat distressed—I hope that I do not use the wrong word—that so many people could be so opportunistic. There is an overlap between those who want to seize the interim period to put in their claims and the needs of disabled drivers which have come more into focus in recent times. There is an issue here. I should like to see access to the countryside all the time being improved for the disabled. However, I am a little fearful that some shenanigans are going on: that the disabled are being used in an unacceptable way to open up a situation. That is deplorable. It might be helpful to draw attention to some of the opportunities which exist. While those who utilise electric buggies to access these ways are excluded from prosecution from driving on restricted byways, the position is unclear as regards specially adapted four-wheel drive or motorcycle use. The Minister’s observations would be useful. In the meantime, there is a need to encourage highways authorities to recognise the needs of disabled vehicular users as part of their duty to prepare a ““rights of way improvement plan”” which could assess whether some routes would be appropriate for creating agreements in order to improve disabled vehicular access. There may also be the opportunity to improve permissive access for disabled vehicles through negotiations with public landowners—for example, the Forestry Commission, the Ministry of Defence and utility companies—which have experience of negotiating restricted access to sites which they manage. While national park authorities own only a small amount of land, they also have an impressive track record of making improvements to assist with rambles and access for the disabled. The Disabled Ramblers charity, which organises challenging rambles using a wide variety of mobility aids ranging from electrically powered pavement buggies, scooters, wheelchairs and, in some cases, manually propelled wheelchairs, has a 2006 programme that focuses on and encompasses most of the national parks. Specific partnership initiatives include Exmoor National Park Authority’s and the National Trust’s three ““Easy Access”” sites in the park. These are properly constructed, fairly level footpaths in beautiful locations for use by disabled people—those with wheelchairs, buggies and so on. Another initiative is the Black Mountains Cross Border Demonstration Project of which the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority is a partner. This has specifically targeted the rugged landscape of the Black Mountains, improving access points and providing information to people with a varying range of disabilities. The opportunities are there and they need to be strengthened. There may be room for clarification by the Minister on the specially adapted four-wheel drive vehicle. In supporting the noble Lord, I emphasise that there has been a despicable amount of opportunism. We need to be firm about that opportunism. The Government have accepted the principle we pursue. The only difference relates to the date on which the regulations should become operative.