Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I rise to support the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice). I shall not get involved in the somewhat arcane discussion about what is natural and what is wild, as that has been discussed enough already. However, I want to explore the practical implications of changing how we designate national parks. First, I emphasise that the amendments made in the other place do not affect existing national parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty. The Council for National Parks sent us a briefing that was helpful—although I disagree with much of it—in which it said that the amendments were ““common sense”” and designed to ““protect our existing network”” of national parks and areas of outstanding national beauty. However, that is not so: the amendments would change the rules of the game after the inquiry into the proposed South Downs national park has ended, but they do not affect existing national parks at all. The retrospective nature of the provision, and the way in which it has been introduced, is to be deplored. It is the result of a court case, and although we may agree or disagree with the decision, the Government have determined, rapidly, to amend the application of the law. They have done that in the other place, without much debate. I was a member of the Standing Committee considering this Bill, and the issue did not arise, yet it has profound implications for the future designation of national parks.