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Mr. Wigley: I shall come to the comments of the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr. Bennett) shortly, but first, I wish to express my support for the amendment moved by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath). The issues that have been raised would ring a bell in most rural areas where there has been an immense tangle and problem with regard to footpaths, bridleways and roads. The hon. Member for Denton and Reddish touched on an important point when he referred to resources. Many local authorities, including my own, have immense burdens placed on them when they try to deal with these issues, but they do not have adequate resources to do that. Fundamental reviews will be necessary in some areas, so I hope that the resources will be available to carry them out.
The pattern of footpaths that we have inherited does not follow any rhyme or reason. Many of the footpaths that developed in the last century followed the route that the postman took from farm to farm. There is no great logic in keeping footpaths that have no merit, but there is every logic in protecting and developing those that play a significant role in allowing people access to the countryside. We should do that in a way that is consistent with the interests of agriculture.
Equally, some bridleways exist only because the horse was the mode of transport used. By now, many of those bridleways are less relevant, but we should consider how we organise the bridleways that are used by people who ride horses for recreational reasons. Organising them may not follow the same logic as was used for the bridleways that have existed historically. A root-and-branch review is necessary and I shall be interested to hear how the Minister presents the Government new clauses and describes the relevance that they will have to such developments.
The one thing that the Government must take on board--I am assured that they will--is the wish of local communities as regards footpaths, bridleways and roads with a lower classification. The views of community councils in Wales and of parish councils in England should be central. They understand the real needs of their areas and understand which historical provisions may no longer be required. I hope that the Minister will be able
to tell us what help will be given to local authorities so that they can deal with the issue in a consistent and thorough manner--and can do so without taking too long.
The Minister for the Environment (Mr. Michael Meacher): Before I turn to this important set of Government amendments, I shall deal with the amendment moved by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath). I have much sympathy for his aim of extending the ways used by horse-drawn carriages. I appreciate their social value to the disabled and to the other groups that he mentioned.
I must resist amendments No. 33 and 34 not because we have a different purpose, but because there is a difference between us on how to reach our aim. The amendments do not accord with the policy objectives that we have set out in clauses 43 and 44. It is not our intention to overturn the outcome of individual reclassifications that have been completed. Rights of way that have been reclassified as a result of reviews carried out under section 54 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, or before that, under schedule 3 to the Countryside Act 1968, have already been considered on a case-by-case basis. As part of those reviews, evidence as to the status of each way would have been taken into account. That may have involved the detailed examination of evidence at a public inquiry.
Moreover, the amendments would require that any right of way shown on a definitive map which happened to be marked with the annotation CRF or CRB--for hon. Members who are unfamiliar with the terms, I must explain that they stand for carriage road footpath and carriage road bridleway--would be treated as a restricted byway irrespective of whether it had previously been a RUPP, which stands for a road used as a public path. As the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome realises, the terms CRF and CRB have no legal significance. We do not intend, through the Bill, to revisit past decisions. The objective is to provide greater clarity over the rights that exist over those remaining RUPPs and to remove the burden of individual reclassification of all RUPPs from local highway authorities. On that basis, I hope that the hon Gentleman will withdraw the amendment.
The hon. Gentleman also tabled new clause 13, which, as he said, gives a definition of the term "duly made" in relation to objections or representations about definitive map modification orders. Certainly, there have been a great many problems associated with those in the past. The new clause's primary purpose is to ensure that when there are irrelevant objections to an order, a surveying authority can go ahead and confirm the order--in other words, treat it as an unopposed order.
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As I said in Committee, I have a lot of sympathy with that objective. However, since Committee stage we have found that the matter is not as straightforward as it may appear. I am afraid that we need a little more time before deciding whether to introduce proposals. However, I remain sympathetic to the new clause. If, having taken account of all the detailed considerations, we can overcome the difficulties, we shall introduce proposals. The hon. Gentleman may not find that satisfactory, but it is all that I can offer now. I hope that he will trust my bona fides and be prepared not to press the new clause.
I shall move on to Government amendment No. 291, a technical amendment that is necessary to ensure that commencement orders can be made under clause 71 to safeguard the effect of orders reclassifying RUPPS. Government amendment No. 294 arises from an amendment tabled in Committee by my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice), and places an obligation on surveying authorities to keep an up-to-date record of applications for orders modifying the legal record of rights of way that local authorities are required to maintain--in other words, the definitive map and statement. We have accepted that idea from my hon. Friend.
Government amendment No. 296 arises from another amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle, and will make existing footpaths, bridleways and BOATs publicly maintainable. The term BOATs does not mean what one might think, and for hon. Members who are not familiar with it, I shall explain that it stands for byways open to all traffic. BOATs were reclassified from RUPPs, which are roads used as public paths; that is the last acronym that I need to explain before proceeding in this complicated area. BOATs did not become publicly maintainable under the Countryside Act 1968 because the special review under which they were reclassified was abandoned. The amendment is line with the intentions of the 1968 Act and the Bill's provisions for restricted byways.
Government new clauses 25 to 28, amendment No. 295 and consequential amendments Nos. 292 and 293 fulfil the commitment that I gave on Second Reading to introduce proposals to encourage completion of the historic record of rights of way within 25 years, at which my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr. Bennett) expressed displeasure. Together with the requirements in clauses 51 and 52 for local authorities to prepare rights of way improvement plans, the new clauses are a key part of our drive to secure a more complete and up-to-date network of rights of way throughout England and Wales.
Despite progress over the last few years, few definitive maps on which local authorities are required to record rights of way are genuinely definitive. It is important to set a target date for recording historic rights of way, the provenance of which may go back hundreds of years and the existence of which may not always be known to the owner of the land that they cross, or to the public who could want to use them. The current system absorbs significant resources, and after 50 years, as my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish said, it has still not provided--indeed, it is still some way from providing--a comprehensive network for all.
My hon. Friend argued that at the current rate of progress, it might take some 200 years to complete the process, but the whole point is that the reason why there has been so little progress until now is that there has been no concentration of minds on this objective and--I agree that this is a very important point--little or no resources have been put behind it. We intend to address both those points.
In our consultation paper we proposed a 10-year period for recording historic rights of way. Many respondents argued that that was not long enough, and on further reflection I agree. We have therefore extended the period to 25 years, with provision for conditional extensions beyond that. There are also further safeguards to ensure
that important rights of way are not lost. I shall briefly explain, because this is important and the House needs to have a clear statement about what is intended.The new clauses apply to rights of way created before 1 January 1949, the date of the legislation that first introduced definitive maps. That is broadly in line with the proposal in our consultation paper. The main elements of the provisions are as follows. Local authorities' duties to record all pre-1949 footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic will continue until 1 January 2026.
After the deadline has been reached, any footpath or bridleway created before 1949 which is not recorded on a definitive map and for which no claim has been submitted will, with certain exceptions, be extinguished. The exceptions are set out in new clause 26. They include savings for the effect of a diversion order or other legal event that occurred after 1 January 1949 and as much of the original footpath or bridleway as necessary to connect it with another highway. There are also savings for any pre-1949 footpath or bridleway which passes over a bridge or through a tunnel and for footpaths and bridleways at the side of carriageways. There are regulation-making powers to exempt other footpaths and bridleways--for example, those that provide access to premises.
After the deadline, any unclaimed higher rights created before 1949 over footpaths, bridleways and restricted byways already shown on the map will also be extinguished. We do not see a need for as many exemptions in those cases, but we cannot rule out the possibility that, for example, evidence of likely hardship might arise as the deadline gets nearer. We believe it prudent, therefore, to have a regulation-making power to exempt rights of way of particular descriptions from extinguishment.
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