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Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

On Second Reading, I raised the issue that the noble Viscount, Lord Simon, just commented on at the end of his speech. The Bill would remove the right of certain property owners to access their properties because access over roads used as public paths would be extinguished. I remind the Committee that on Second Reading I declared an interest that a member of my family would be in exactly that position. I presume that was not the intention of the Government when they brought forward the Bill but it happened rather more according to the law of unintended consequences. None the less, it is very serious indeed if people’s human rights are put at fundamentally serious risk by an Act of Parliament removing their rights to enjoy and to access their property. I am sure that is not the Government’s intention, but that is what the Bill says. I welcome the fact that the Government recognise that this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. The Minister has tabled Amendment No. 326, and I shall be listening with great care to his explanation of how that amendment would work and what precisely would be the position of householders whose properties are accessed via a road that was used as a public path. This is a narrow issue, but for those who are affected it is potentially extremely serious, making their properties completely unsellable under the circumstances proposed in the Bill. That would clearly be a very grave injustice if it were not properly addressed. I look forward to the Minister’s explanation of his Amendment No. 326.