UK Parliament / Open data

Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]

Debate on bills on Tuesday, 23 June 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Hilary Benn. The answering member was Lord Herbert of South Downs.
Marine and Coastal Access Bill. Second reading debate. Agreed to on question. Programme motion on proceedings in Committee, on Report, Third reading and any other proceedings. Agreed to on question. Queen's recommendation signified. Money resolution. Agreed to on question. [Relevant Documents: The Report from the Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill, Session 2007-08 (HC 552-I) and the Government's response, Cm 7422. The Eleventh Report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, on Legislative Scrutiny: Marine and Coastal Access Bill (HC 396) and the letters to Lord Pannick from the Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, of 3 and 4 June.]

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

494 c696-768 

Session

2008-09

Legislative stage

Second reading

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Proceeding contributions

Speaker | 494 c714 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind all right hon. and hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed a 10-minute limit on Ba...
Speaker | 494 c753 (Link to this contribution) Order. As is clear to the House, a number of Members are still trying to catch my eye, and there are...

Show all contributions (133)
Speaker | 494 c729 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am pleased to announce to the House a degree of quantitative easing. The time limit on Back...
Martin Caton | 494 c720 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate on this important and welcome Bill. I...
James Gray | 494 c720-1 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that there is a fundamental difference between the coastal acces...
Linda Gilroy | 494 c719 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the present degree of co-operation between the fisheries and with...
Andrew George | 494 c719-20 (Link to this contribution) Yes. I commend the activities of the invest in fish programme, which has made a tremendous contribut...
Martin Salter | 494 c718 (Link to this contribution) It is clear that the Chamber is awash with conservationists, but our annual debate on fisheries poli...
Andrew George | 494 c718 (Link to this contribution) I think that there is a robust debate ahead, but I also think that the hon. Gentleman is falling int...
Elliot Morley | 494 c715-6 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I know that the wording of the Bill, as was pointed out, is "may have regard", but I return...
Rob Marris | 494 c716 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend share my surprise that, under the programme motion, a Bill of 326 pages lo...
Linda Gilroy | 494 c715 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend therefore agree with the WWF that the socio-economic consequences of desig...
Speaker | 494 c714 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman must be brief. Many Members want to contribute, and there is a time limit ...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c714 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Brent, North (Barry Gardiner) had better raise his points in his own speech, and...
Elliot Morley | 494 c714-5 (Link to this contribution) I very much welcome the Bill. Although it is true it has taken some time, it is a complicated measur...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c713 (Link to this contribution) I have a lot of sympathy with the hon. Lady's point. Obviously the path in her part of the world was...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c713 (Link to this contribution) I shall draw my remarks to a conclusion, if I may. The Bill goes some way to addressing a number of...
Barry Gardiner | 494 c713 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that although clause 141(4) proposes that""an act done for the purpose...
Julia Goldsworthy | 494 c713 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the creation of the south-west coastal path has led the way in de...
Anne Milton | 494 c736 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady join me in explicitly thanking all our constituents? My constituency is quite a l...
Angela C Smith | 494 c736-8 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree. That is why I thought the Opposition Front-Bench spokesman's comments were unnec...
Graham Stuart | 494 c734-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Government Whip for his intervention. Many mistakes have been made in the past. There w...
Angela C Smith | 494 c736 (Link to this contribution) This Bill presents us with a great opportunity to protect and improve our natural heritage. It is ap...
Martin Salter | 494 c742 (Link to this contribution) It is truly a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ceredigion (Mark Williams). I am happy to infor...
Mark Williams | 494 c739-42 (Link to this contribution) I, too, welcome this popular, long-awaited and much-needed Bill. During my last four years in this p...
Angela C Smith | 494 c738-9 (Link to this contribution) No, I am going to move on; I have got only 12 minutes. The provisions before us on coastal access a...
Martin Salter | 494 c742-3 (Link to this contribution) Oh, well that explains it all. I do apologise; there is nothing wrong with the accent at all, and th...
James Gray | 494 c743 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Martin Salter | 494 c744 (Link to this contribution) Go on then—the hon. Gentleman is a proper Tory.
James Gray | 494 c744 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is a true old socialist. Of course my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Hol...
James Gray | 494 c745 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Reading, West (Martin Salter), with whom I have spent...
James Gray | 494 c746-7 (Link to this contribution) We are a pair of hoary old guerrillas, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and we stand guilty as charged. We remove...
Andrew George | 494 c747 (Link to this contribution) It is important to put the matter in the current economic context. Does the hon. Gentleman therefore...
David Drew | 494 c750-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for allowing me to intervene in her excellent speech. Does she accept that on...
Madeleine Moon | 494 c751-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I intend to mention the subject briefly later in my sp...
James Gray | 494 c749 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is of course quite wrong. I opposed the Act simply because I believed there was n...
Madeleine Moon | 494 c750 (Link to this contribution) People listening to the debate cannot fail to notice the disproportionate number of Members from Wal...
James Gray | 494 c748-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely good point. He serves with me on the Select Committee and came...
Martin Salter | 494 c749 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman about parks and gardens, but does he see the contradiction in his ar...
James Gray | 494 c747-8 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, and he is of course right. I shall s...
David Drew | 494 c748 (Link to this contribution) Given that the Bill on heritage protection is not being brought forward, does the hon. Gentleman acc...
Desmond Turner | 494 c758-60 (Link to this contribution) This debate has centred almost entirely on conservation. I do not wish to denigrate its importance: ...
Lord Benyon | 494 c760-3 (Link to this contribution) First, may I warmly welcome you, Mr. Speaker, to your position, and add that it is fitting that the ...
Huw Irranca-Davies | 494 c763-7 (Link to this contribution) I welcome you, Mr. Speaker, to the Chair on the occasion of these august proceedings. It is an apt d...
Barry Gardiner | 494 c755-8 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) and I agree with, I think, every...
Nick Ainger | 494 c725-7 (Link to this contribution) Like everyone else who has spoken so far, I welcome the Bill. It may have been a long time coming, b...
James Gray | 494 c727 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that there is an important difference between the Pembrokeshire ...
Martin Caton | 494 c722 (Link to this contribution) I agree. That strong point has been made by various organisations, and it should be considered in Co...
Graham Stuart | 494 c722 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the role of the Infrastructure Planning Commission in marine dete...
Martin Caton | 494 c722-3 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not, and I do not wish to labour that point, because I want to make my point about landscap...
Peter Viggers | 494 c723-5 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the chance to follow the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Cat...
Anne Milton | 494 c722 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree with the huge number of constituents who have contacted me on this iss...
Martin Caton | 494 c721-2 (Link to this contribution) I accept that. There is a different approach, but the Bill includes framework powers to enable the A...
Martin Salter | 494 c722 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned damage. Is he aware that clause 140 makes a person guilty of an offence if ...
Martin Caton | 494 c722 (Link to this contribution) I do agree. I think that the Bill is very good, but there is potential for strengthening it. I hope ...
James Gray | 494 c733 (Link to this contribution) To correct one point, the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Ms Smith) has got her figures qui...
Angela C Smith | 494 c733 (Link to this contribution) I suggest that the reason no more than two miles of coast is walked at any one time is because two a...
Graham Stuart | 494 c733 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention. The south-west has been mentioned, as has south Pembrok...
Linda Gilroy | 494 c730-2 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I welcome the extension you have just granted, but whether my voice i...
Graham Stuart | 494 c732-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to take part in the debate and to follow the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 494 c729 (Link to this contribution) Of course, but the salt marshes are not part of the marine environment; they are already catered for...
Bob Spink | 494 c729 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the avocets on Two Tree Island on Canvey Island in my constituen...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 494 c727-9 (Link to this contribution) I should like to thank the Secretary of State and my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Do...
Nick Ainger | 494 c727 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the hon. Gentleman is correct about compensation. What was done was done by agre...
Rob Marris | 494 c706 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend say something briefly about equestrian access, where there is a difficult ...
Hilary Benn | 494 c706 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that it is appropriate, but I hope that the hon. Gentleman will acknowledge that we h...
Graham Stuart | 494 c706 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State tell the House why he is so set against compensation for landowners who ...
Hilary Benn | 494 c706 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way two more times, then I shall bring my remarks to a close.
Hilary Benn | 494 c706 (Link to this contribution) We should consider that in Committee, and I am happy to give that assurance to my hon. Friend and an...
Gordon Marsden | 494 c706 (Link to this contribution) On the specific point about part 9 and access to coastal paths and beaches, which I greatly welcome,...
Hilary Benn | 494 c705-6 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely acknowledge that point and that is why the provisions in this part of the Bill try to s...
David Leslie Taylor | 494 c705 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way on that point. The 646 Members of this House ...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c713 (Link to this contribution) I think my hon. Friend would accept that there is considerable demand from organisations concerned a...
James Gray | 494 c713 (Link to this contribution) Given that two thirds of the coast is already open to walkers, does my hon. Friend see a real need f...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c711-2 (Link to this contribution) Depending on the conditions set for the zones, one benefit would be to ensure sustainable fishing, b...
Bernard Jenkin | 494 c711 (Link to this contribution) Can my hon. Friend enlighten the House a little about the debate in the other place? The Minister th...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c712 (Link to this contribution) That point needs further examination and perhaps the Minister will reply to it. It would depend on t...
Roger Williams | 494 c712 (Link to this contribution) My reading of the Bill suggests that if someone does damage to a marine conservation zone or a highl...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c707-9 (Link to this contribution) The American poet Walt Whitman once described the sea as "a continual miracle". His description capt...
Hilary Benn | 494 c706-7 (Link to this contribution) There is indeed. I have no doubt that that is an issue that we will also consider in Committee. In t...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c709-11 (Link to this contribution) I agree: what was the point of the 2001 manifesto commitment if it is not honoured? I was simply mak...
Hilary Benn | 494 c702 (Link to this contribution) As I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware, the ship-to-ship transfer regulations are currently u...
Roger Williams | 494 c701 (Link to this contribution) There is concern, however, that the MMO will not have enough resources and manpower to carry out thi...
Hilary Benn | 494 c700-1 (Link to this contribution) The MMO is going to be established as an NDPB precisely to give it the independence that many of tho...
Shona McIsaac | 494 c700 (Link to this contribution) Constituents of mine who work for the Marine and Fisheries Agency have come to see me about transfer...
Hilary Benn | 494 c700 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend will bear with me, I am going to make some progress; otherwise, the time for other...
Lord Swire | 494 c702 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State not agree that more could be done in the Bill to address the issue of sh...
Hilary Benn | 494 c701 (Link to this contribution) Matters that fall within the purview of the Welsh Assembly Government are for the Welsh Assembly Gov...
Albert Owen | 494 c701 (Link to this contribution) The MMO will have additional resources, but where measures are devolved to the Welsh Assembly Govern...
Hilary Benn | 494 c701 (Link to this contribution) The Marine and Fisheries Agency has roughly 100 staff at head office and 100 out in the coastal offi...
Sally Keeble | 494 c700 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Hilary Benn | 494 c703 (Link to this contribution) I am keen that anyone and everyone who has an interest has an opportunity to express a view during c...
Sally Keeble | 494 c703 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend knows, my constituency, although about as far from the sea as one can get in...
Hilary Benn | 494 c703-4 (Link to this contribution) The simple reason, as I tried to explain earlier, is that the Bill in its current form gives the Sec...
Andrew George | 494 c703 (Link to this contribution) There is considerable consensus on this Bill, as the Secretary of State has said, but he will be awa...
Hilary Benn | 494 c704 (Link to this contribution) I will make some progress, if my hon. Friend will forgive me, since I gave way to him earlier. Many ...
Barry Gardiner | 494 c704 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way on that point?
Hilary Benn | 494 c705 (Link to this contribution) It is not for us to put such duties on the Welsh Assembly Government. It is a matter for them to det...
David Jones | 494 c704 (Link to this contribution) Has the Secretary of State noted the concern expressed by the Wildlife Trusts of Wales and similar c...
Hilary Benn | 494 c702-3 (Link to this contribution) I will happily write to the hon. Gentleman in response to his point. The Bill also tightens up the ...
Lembit Opik | 494 c702 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for coming back to the general concern that I raised earlier...
Hilary Benn | 494 c698-9 (Link to this contribution) For the reason I alluded to in answering the previous question, the fundamental responsibility rests...
Bernard Jenkin | 494 c698 (Link to this contribution) Under this Bill, who will be legally responsible for ensuring that fish stocks are not over-exploite...
Hilary Benn | 494 c698 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend that we have to manage the competing demands that we make of our seas an...
Barry Gardiner | 494 c698 (Link to this contribution) In maintaining that position, does my right hon. Friend recognise that there is a conflict with the ...
Speaker | 494 c698 (Link to this contribution) Order. That was far too lengthy.
David Davis | 494 c698 (Link to this contribution) On precisely that point, the thrust of the Bill in creating marine conservation zones is entirely su...
Hilary Benn | 494 c698 (Link to this contribution) The issue has been debated at some length in the other place and no doubt will be looked at in Commi...
Lembit Opik | 494 c697 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State invites me to invite him to my constituency, which I will, not least because ...
Hilary Benn | 494 c697 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman listens to what I say about the Bill, he may feel somewhat reassured, but I wi...
Hilary Benn | 494 c697 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary is a man of his word and my hon. Friend the Member for City of Yo...
Hilary Benn | 494 c700 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to give the right hon. Gentleman a number now as it would not be wise to do so. I kno...
John Redwood | 494 c699-700 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way before he leaves that very important point. A...
Alan Whitehead | 494 c699 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for his great generosity in giving way once more. On the designation of...
Hilary Benn | 494 c699 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that we will look at that question in Committee. The purpose of the Bill, however, is to g...
Hilary Benn | 494 c699 (Link to this contribution) If the right hon. Gentleman will bear with me, I am going to make some progress, as many Members wis...
Bernard Jenkin | 494 c699 (Link to this contribution) Is the Secretary of State aware that the WWF tried to mount a prosecution against the failure of the...
Hilary Benn | 494 c699 (Link to this contribution) In the end, it is for the courts to determine whether cases can or cannot be brought, but that under...
Hilary Benn | 494 c699 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way one more time.
Hugh Bayley | 494 c697 (Link to this contribution) There is huge interest in my constituency in this Bill. The Yorkshire wildlife trust held a public m...
Hilary Benn | 494 c696 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. For many centuries, our nation has been def...
Andrew George | 494 c716-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley), because he has a disti...
Graham Stuart | 494 c733-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. The coastline that I know best is in my area and there ar...
Graham Stuart | 494 c709 (Link to this contribution) The Ministers who are here today are to be congratulated on introducing this Bill. However, it does ...
Elliot Morley | 494 c716 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend knows as well as I do that, rather than faff around and waste an awful lot of time, C...
Martin Salter | 494 c744-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for drawing that point to my attention, but I was talking about landowner...
Martin Salter | 494 c745 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman read on to the record that it is he and I who have been acting in guerrilla ...
Bernard Jenkin | 494 c753-5 (Link to this contribution) This is an important Bill. It has been long in the gestation, but is welcome and, I believe, address...
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