Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I am especially pleased to follow the hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) because I would like to pursue some of the issues that he raised. Rights of way affect many of my constituents. North-East Derbyshire sits at the foot of the Peak district and boasts some of the most beautiful rural villages in the country, for example Ashover. People have moved from far and wide to live in a peaceful rural idyll. Tourists travel hundreds of miles to visit, but their quality of life is being ruined and their nerves are shattered. As the Under-Secretary knows, the proposed legislation led to a flood of applications for modification orders to the definitive map to upgrade bridleways to byways to allow the sort of motorised vehicles that we have discussed today—trial bikes, quad bikes and four-wheel-drive vehicles—on to the bridleways. Many of those paths existed in the same state for centuries until motorised vehicles started to use them relatively recently. Visitors to the countryside who want to enjoy peaceful surroundings, wild flowers and birds or get some safe outdoor exercise in a beautiful historic environment have all that ruined by noisy trial bikes. They have caused great damage to land and paths, making them unuseable for those, such as walkers and horse riders, who want to use them legitimately. Horse riders can no longer use the paths, and it cannot be right that legitimate users are effectively prevented from using them so that trial bikers can ride around at high speed, not even looking at scenery or seeing what they drive over and often destroy. What does the Under-Secretary propose to do about applications for modification orders that have already been made but have not been determined? Is there a timetable for determining them?