Commons Bill [HL]

I support the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, about bracken. I declare an interest as, to the best of my knowledge, I am the only person in the country who is involved in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme expressly to get rid of bracken. So I have some first hand experience in dealing with this pernicious weed. It is prodigiously expensive to deal with. I receive a 30 per cent grant; I know what the 70 per cent costs me—and it is not cheap, I can assure you. The noble Lord is absolutely right that it is spreading. There was a time—I do not know whether it is still the case—that bracken was supposed to be spreading at the same rate as urbanisation. Whether it will be able to keep up with the Deputy Prime Minister’s housing plans is another matter altogether, but it is spreading and it is a problem. It contains louping-ill. The matt layer at the bottom of bracken is extremely beneficial to the tip, which carries the louping-ill virus. It has carcinogenic properties as well. It is a weed that needs to be controlled. Certainly any responsible common association would regard bracken spraying as a prime objective in its management scheme. However, I suspect that without the help of the Minister and his department it will be beyond the pockets of most people.