Commons Bill [HL]

My Lords, it will come as no surprise to anyone that my basic instincts and prejudices are in favour of having as much land as possible registered as commons, access land, village greens and the rest of it. Having said that, I believe that the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, has raised an important underlying question that needs answering. The whole process of identifying and registering greens is very important, and it is vital that people have the right to do it when appropriate—and when the appropriateness is in question. There is no doubt that some people in some places are using the process to frustrate what would otherwise be perfectly legitimate developments, which have gone through all the planning procedures, have planning permission and in general—whether it is right or wrong in an individual case—have been accepted as appropriate by the democratic community processes that take place. So there is a problem here. I do not know whether there is an answer to it, or whether it is something that we shall have to live with in the interests of the wider legislation. Like the noble Baroness, I am interested in this question and am interested in what the Minister has to say. I do not believe that the amendment is quite right—in fact, I believe that one or two bits of it are wrong; but there is an issue here which she is right to raise, and we look forward to the Minister’s response.