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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

By contrast, this is a simple drafting amendment. I am sure that the Minister and other Members of the Committee will be grateful for that. The Bill reads as overly restrictive to ““that area”” on page 2, line 16. It is quite clear from our discussions this afternoon, let alone the briefing we have had from the Minister and his team, that we also need to be a bit more general in that reference. Not only must ““that area”” be considered, but also, "““the UK marine area or an adjacent area of sea or land””." Without that, the clause would be dangerously restrictive. These adjacent areas could, for example, include the area around the Isle of Man, which we were looking at on the maps yesterday, as well as the Scottish inshore area. On a wider international scale, they could be areas under the control of the Republic of Ireland or the French Government, which are so close to the UK’s marine zone that they could be very easily affected by what goes on within that zone and vice versa. Inevitably, this is a probing amendment. I hope that it is very straightforward. It seems important that this principle should be established at this stage and, therefore, I am pleased to move the amendment.