Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 135A:"Page 26, line 37, at end insert—" ““(   )   If the use of a road by mechanically propelled vehicles has been removed by a traffic order and there no longer exists a carriageway appropriate for those vehicles, the use shall not be revived by revocation or amendment of that order, and a new carriageway and its use by mechanically propelled vehicles may only be permitted in accordance with the legislation that would apply if the carriageway and a public right of way for that use had never existed.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I will now divert your attention to an entirely different subject, which might be to your relief. In Committee, I moved an amendment concerning the ““Sloane Square”” amendment. It was grouped with many other amendments and did not receive adequate consideration. I shall address the effect of amending legislation on traffic regulation orders on rights of way issues and why I believe an amendment to the present regulations is necessary. The particular example giving rise to the amendments is in Sloane Square, although it may well not be unique. In the late 1920s, the original crossroads in Sloane Square were converted into a roundabout by means of a traffic regulations order made under the London Traffic Act 1924. Its effect continues under a consolidated traffic regulation order made for the whole of London in 1965. The former Chelsea borough council at first intended to seek a justice’s order for the extinguishment of the original highways across what is now the central island. It then realised that that would result in the site of the roads reverting to the freeholder of the adjacent lands; namely the Cadogan Estate. There were then no planning controls which could have prevented the owner allowing any use that suited it and there was considerable pressure for converting the island into a car park, which the council rightly considered undesirable. It therefore decided to leave the highway rights over the island for pedestrians only and in 1930 laid it out with the previous small adjoining islands as a paved public garden with trees, removing all indication of the original carriageways. More than 75 years later, this oasis in the middle of the busy but not unattractive square and conservation area is enjoyed by local residents and visitors from all over the world. However, after what is considered by many to be a wholly inadequate non-statutory public consultation, Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council wish to revert to a carriageway on its original line across the island, dividing it into two sections and making other alterations which will provide some improvement for pedestrian traffic but gravely diminish the amenity and recreational value of the island and the character of the whole square. But because the affected land remains a highway, the existing traffic regulation order can be undone by a new order made by the council—delegated to its relevant cabinet member—with no need to use the planning Act procedures except for minor details. The traffic regulation order procedure provides only limited mechanisms for public intervention, which can largely be ignored by the council; there is no right of appeal if that procedure has not been properly carried out. The amendment seeks to set down grounds under which a traffic regulation order might be the subject of proper consultation and proper democratic procedures, so that people can make their objections and their views felt and that it will not be possible to override a traffic order which has been placed over a particular square, or anywhere else, by the limited intervention of a cabinet member of the local authority involved. I am sorry that this is a complicated matter and I ask that unless the Minister has an answer to it, he takes it away and gives it proper consideration. Although this is a small issue, it raises a rights-of-way matter where a traffic regulation order was placed a long time ago and can now apparently be set aside for relatively minor considerations. I beg to move.