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Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces (Amendment) etc. Regulations 2010

My Lords, the Royal Parks comprise over 5,000 acres of historic parkland in and around London. I shall confine my remarks to Richmond Park in the main, but other noble Lords will no doubt talk about Bushy Park. Both parks lie in the London Borough of Richmond but are a pleasure for people in Richmond, Twickenham, Putney and Kingston. Both are of great concern to MPs in the House of Commons, most notably Susan Kramer and Vince Cable. The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has always had as its motto: ""Where the countryside comes to town"." Richmond Park and Bushy Park are our lungs and our countryside. Besides being areas of great natural beauty, Richmond Park in particular hosts many rare species of plants and insects as well as fine herds of red and fallow deer. Richmond Park was formed when Charles I decided he wanted a private hunting park. Noble Lords will remember that Charles I had a fine opinion of himself and his powers. He built a high, red-brick wall all around the park, created by the compulsory purchase of a great deal of farmland—to the consternation of local residents who regarded it as a theft of their countryside. Charles was persuaded to put ladders at certain points around the circumference of the park to allow pedestrian access and was forced by public opinion to allow poor people into the park to collect wood for fuel. This permission still exists today. Over 20 years ago, just for fun, I applied to the then Department of the Environment for a permit to collect wood in Richmond Park and was duly issued one. If any noble Lords are desperate in this cold weather, you can only take out as much as you can carry. Do not get too excited about it. The park carried on as a hunting park for the Royal Family and the aristocracy. Public access became more and more difficult until finally challenged by John Lewis—not of the partnership but a brewer in Richmond. After three years, in 1758 he finally won free access into the park for local people. The park has been open and there has been free access ever since. The main reason for the changes to the regulations for Richmond Park and Bushy Park is to raise revenue to rebuild the roads in them. These were originally sandy tracks, which have in recent years been covered in tarmac. They have never been properly metalled or constructed. This means that pollutants from the traffic drain into the park, destroying the special grasslands and thus the whole ecology of the park. Traffic has increased hugely over the years. Motorists use the park as a short cut on their journeys in and out of London. Visitors to the park use the car parks. Sadly, the Royal Parks Agency has presented only one option for consultation, and that is a substantial charge for parking. It did no surveys of the quantity of commuter traffic and counted only the cars that are parked and whose occupants stay in the park for long periods to enjoy the countryside with their families. It even assessed the socio-economic class and ethnicity of the people who use the park to try to justify the imposition of charges. It was a huge, expensive survey giving us only half the story. Why did it not consider other proposals? It has been suggested in the local press and elsewhere, including by local people, that it is the rat-runners through the park who should pay a charge towards the upkeep of the roads, not the people who drive a short distance from their nearest gate to a car park and walk or picnic in the park for long periods. Tens of thousands of people use the park as a short cut every week, never stopping at all. A scheme has been suggested using modern scanning technology to charge motorists who stay, say, less than half an hour in the park. It is used elsewhere and it could be used in the parks—a toll charge in other words. We pay one quite happily to cross the Severn Bridge. Why was this not considered and why was the survey not completed? It has also been suggested that a special fundraising committee be set up to raise money for the park. The Government do not allow museums to charge for entry, so why allow the Royal Parks to do so? Museums have always raised funds by public subscription, as, for that matter, have universities. Why not the Royal Parks? There is little or no public transport to Richmond Park, in particular, so people have no alternative but to use their cars, and charges would disproportionately affect those on low incomes and of course the elderly and disabled. Over many years, we have been promised transport to the park and, indeed, within the park by the Royal Parks Agency but it has never happened. Even if we had a bus, it would still be difficult to take several small children and the dog to the park for the day. I repeat: it is our countryside. I wish to make one final point. As pointed out by my noble friend Lady Hamwee, who cannot be here today because of family illness, car-parking charges would have an unneighbourly effect—indeed, it is mentioned in the consultation—as people find out that they can avoid the charge by using the streets around the park. Residents’ parking schemes would have to be extended to weekends and holidays, and even to Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when residents make maximum use of the park. That would cause maximum disruption for the residents living around the park. The Tory Motion expresses unhappiness with the parking charges. It regrets the measure and asks the Government to withdraw it, but wishes to retain the other changes in the regulations enabling a reduction in speed limits and other improvements to the public amenity in the Royal Parks. Let us take a brief look at some of these. They include prohibiting the sailing of model boats in any pond except the model boating pond. That does not sound too crucial or urgent to me, unless of course noble Lords on the Conservative Benches spend their entire weekends sailing model boats on forbidden waters in the Royal Parks. Another new regulation exempts horse owners riding in the park from the obligation to clear up their horses’ manure. In the 35 years that I have walked in Richmond Park, I have never seen a rider dismount to collect the horse manure. My husband, who has an allotment, would do it like a shot but he does not ride horses in Richmond Park and horse riders are not lobbying urgently on this issue. I have not had a single letter about it. Speed limits in Greenwich Park are important but the Government could bring in a statutory instrument to cover this and other issues next week if they wished. The Conservative Motion will do nothing except enshrine car-parking charges in Richmond Park and the Royal Parks, and Bushy Park in particular. The Government will not withdraw anything. If the Conservatives win the general election—it is quite a big if nowadays—I cannot see this piece of legislation about car-parking charges in Richmond and Bushy parks being top of David Cameron’s list the day after the election. I cannot imagine him saying, "What must we do first? Yes, we must go for those parking charges". He will have many more problems to deal with than that one. We read in Conservative leaflets that they will "review" the charges, but that is hardly a commitment to get rid of them. It is said that fatal amendments have been won on only three occasions. So what? With your Lordships’ support we can make it four times and force, not ask, the Royal Parks Agency and the Government to think again and look at better and fairer options. I understand the Official Opposition’s reluctance to support a fatal amendment lest we get into the habit of tabling them when and if they gain power, but this is something called democracy. We are able to do this; it is on the Order Paper. I urge the House to support our fatal Motion and ask the Royal Parks Agency to prove that it is fit for purpose by taking a fresh look at methods of raising revenue for the Royal Parks. Let us have a bit of imagination and lateral thinking for a change, instead of going for the easiest and most unjust solution. I beg to move.