PROVISIONS SUPPLEMENTARY TO SS. 2 AND 3 (Hansard, 10 March 1971)

§ Mr. Graham Page

I beg to move Amendment No. 1, in page 5, line 24, leave out from 'any' to end of line and insert 'highway'.

This Amendment stems from an agreement which I made in Committee to reconsider the drafting of the last six words of subsection (1), any public right of way on foot. Those words caused some confusion in interpreting the subsection, and I was happy to look at them again. The Amendment will provide that no highway may be obstructed in connection with the stopping up of a private means of access by an order under Clause 2.

There are two reasons for the Amendment. The first, as I have said, is that members of the Committee were confused by the use of the words public right of way on foot. when, in other instances, footpaths were included in the all-embracing word "highway". That is why I agreed to look again at the drafting to see whether it could be made less confusing.

The second reason is that the original wording excluded bridle paths, which are also deserving of protection. It is conceivable, furthermore, that other forms of highway would be at risk. The Amendment, therefore, provides for the substitution of the comprehensive term "highway" for the limited reference in the printed Clause to public right of way on foot.