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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

Schedule 19 provides powers that are necessary to enable Natural England to identify, establish and maintain the route. For example, it enables Natural England to enter land for the purpose of surveying in connection with the preparation of a report to the Secretary of State proposing a coastal route. It provides for Natural England or the access authority to enter land for the purpose of identifying whether any works are necessary to facilitate use of the route, and for carrying out such works; and it enables Natural England or the access authority to enter into agreements with landowners or occupiers about the carrying out of works, and to make payment for the carrying out of works. Where a satisfactory agreement cannot be reached, Natural England or the access authority will be able to carry out the work themselves. The schedule sets out the steps that must be followed, and the right of appeal for landowners, before such work commences. It also provides for the signing of the route and of the boundaries of the spreading room. The substantive response that I will give to the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, answers the question, "Will this power be used in a proportionate way and will the compulsion be used in exceptional circumstances?". I fully accept the point that he is raising. We very much hope that works will be done by agreement, and that the reserve powers of intervention will be used only on rare occasions. The whole premise of this legislation is to ensure that, wherever possible, there is consensus. Amendments A362B to A362E would mean that it would not be possible for Natural England or the access authority to enter into agreements with owners and occupiers for the clearance of land to facilitate the use of the route by the public, or to facilitate rights of access by bicycle or horseback where restrictions on those rights have been relaxed by the owner. I think that that might be said to go against the spirit of the implementation of the eastern coastal route, which should be carried out where possible by working closely with landowners. If we were to accept the amendment, an agreement for the removal of obstructions such as a wall, fence or other barrier could not be entered into. Where the optimum siting for the route requires clearance or the removal of an obstruction to make it accessible, Natural England or the access authority ought to be able to enter into an agreement with landowners and occupiers to do the necessary improvements. Amendments A362F, A362K, A362P and A362R would require Natural England or the access authority to meet expenditure incurred by the owner-occupier in carrying out agreed works to implement or maintain the route. The Bill already provides powers for meeting or contributing to such costs. It is argued that the detail of such payments should be a matter for agreement between the contracting authority and the landowner or occupier taking the particular circumstances into account. Natural England will meet the costs of implementing the route and we think that the approach set out in the Bill provides the flexibility to make reasonable agreements with landowners and occupiers. It also ensures that where for whatever reason such agreements are not possible any necessary work can be carried out. Amendments A362G and A362H would remove the powers enabling Natural England or the contracting authority to recover relevant expenses where an owner or occupier fails to carry out the works which he has entered into an agreement to carry out and where the contracting authority carries out those works itself. In that respect the authority must be able to recover any expenses over and above its own contribution from the person with whom it has been agreed that the cost of carrying out work should be met and which the authority has incurred as a result of failure of the owner or occupier to carry out the agreed works. We considered a similar amendment to Amendment A362J when we discussed consultation on Natural England’s report. As I said, it is not appropriate to extend the definition of those with a relevant interest in affected land to include those with other interests. Anyone may make representations to Natural England. Amendments A362M and A362Q would require Natural England to consult landowners and occupiers before erecting or removing any signs about the routes or warning of any hazards. The Bill already provides that Natural England must consult such persons as far as is reasonably practicable to do so. That is a sensible measure that will permit the erection of central signage and information on the safety of users where the identity of an owner-occupier may not be known or when it may not prove possible to contact them. Consultation with landowners, occupiers and other local interests will be the key to the successful implementation of the coastal access route. Amendment A362N would add a provision that a person with a relevant interest in the land may request Natural England to provide a notice or sign. The Bill provides for consultation with and representations by those with such an interest. I am not convinced that it is appropriate to single out signage. On the question of an assurance that the works relate only to the route and not the margin, the answer is yes that that is generally the case. Paragraph 2(3)(a) and (b) makes it clear that it applies to the route. Exceptions arise under paragraph 2(3)(c), which relates to the margin but only where the landowner has given consent for horse-riders or cyclists to use the land under a relaxation of a general restriction under sub-paragraph (3)(e), which relates to contracting and removing walls and fences, et cetera, which we would expect to be generally related to the route. Overall, this follows CROW and we think that the balance is right. It is not a great big hammer to force landowners and others to do things that they do not want to do. I want to come back to the original point put to me by the noble Lord, Lord Taylor. We would expect this to be done through agreement. There may be exceptions but I hope that they would be limited.