Commons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I hesitate to intervene at the eleventh hour plus, on a Bill that I have so warmly welcomed and on which so much hard, detailed work has been done by Members on all sides of this House. Like many others who have not been involved in that work, I am deeply impressed, and I believe that it has been the House of Lords at its very best. I intervene because I would not like my noble friend to feel that the point that has just been made is limited to the concern of the noble Lord, Lord Greaves. I declare an interest as president of Friends of the Lake District, which represents the CPRE in Cumbria, where we have about 30 per cent of the commons in England. Almost in parentheses, and not only in a personal capacity but as president, I say how warmly the Friends of the Lake District have welcomed this Bill and all the intentions behind it. However, there is some disappointment about the Government’s change of mind, and I should report that to this House. There was great enthusiasm about the principle of extending the possibility of taking action to ordinary people and to the public in general. This is seen as a sad step backwards. In Cumbria, there is quite a large problem of encroachment on not just a few, but quite a number of, commons. In one case, there is more than 2 km of barbed wire. Those sorts of things in a real, living community upset people, and they stored great hope on an opportunity for them as ordinary citizens to take action. I am always glad when the Government listen and adjust in the light of comments. Will they listen to the observations from those on the front line? As the Bill goes to the Commons for what I hope will be a very smooth passage, perhaps this point could be reconsidered.