Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I support the general thrust of the amendment tabled by my noble friend Lord Dixon-Smith. I shall speak to our Amendment No. 328. As Members of the Committee have just heard, modern wheelchairs are miracles of design, are exceedingly mobile and can be manoeuvred easily and fast. I believe that they can go up very steep hills, if necessary. For those people who enjoy the open air, I believe that these wheelchairs can traverse muddy lanes, patches of sandy soil, slopes and ridges, and can even climb stairs. But they are solo vehicles. Our contention is that this Bill should be drafted to ensure that people who are confined to wheelchairs are classed with those who travel our rural paths on foot—as the noble Baroness said, we would like clarification on that—and are enabled to use all the routes along which their vehicles are able to go. However, there is difficulty in regulating and policing roadways. If roadways are available only for people who are travelling on foot, as the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, said, it is always possible to put in gates, kissing gates, styles and so forth. But the minute that one wants to make proper provision for disabled people, that becomes more difficult. Perhaps a way will be discovered that will assist disabled people. I have had a small problem at home in Scotland where the laws are slightly more difficult, but disabled people have exactly the same problem. In order to deter motor vehicles, we have put in a special gate, which has a gap in it that is big enough for a horse, but with a bar at the bottom. When we installed the gate, the bar was 15 inches above the road. We were told that a disabled person who liked to ride had come along, but her horse would not cross the bar. I was slightly inclined to say that we had allowed for disabled riders but not for disabled horses. In the event, we raised the level of the road sufficiently so that the lady’s horse can cross over. There are obviously many technical difficulties that have to be overcome in combining foot traffic with the type of vehicles that disabled people are able to use. It may be that the Minister would wish to add a clause to ensure that able bodied people will be banned from using a motorised wheelchair on rights of way. He may wish to devise a system of punishment for anyone caught using one without qualified use.