Right to Roam Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Clark of Windermere
Main Page: Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Clark of Windermere's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(9 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)
The noble Baroness raises a good point regarding connecting to lost land and open spaces. The Government are aware that in the original mapping of open access land, some areas were identified to which there is no legal route. We are committed to undertaking a review of this position, and legislation to facilitate this review was recently passed into law in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act.
Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)
My Lords, we all welcome the Minister’s answer about open access land, and I am encouraged by it. The previous Government proposed that it be mountains, moorland, heath, et cetera. In addition to that, the Forestry Commission decided it would open up its forests wherever possible. Can the Minister give me an assurance that there will be no pressure at all on the Forestry Commission to weaken its provision of access for the people?
Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)
My Lords, public access is already available to over 1 million hectares of England’s open access land, including areas of coast, heath, moor and mountains, as I said, as well as 258,000 hectares of public forest estate. That commitment remains.