ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL PARKS (Hansard, 10 July 1981)

§ Mr. Peter Fraser
I beg to move, That this House cloth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Lords amendments Nos. 5 and 6.

§ Mr. Fraser
These three amendments relate to the definition of regional parks, which for the first time are to be set up within Scotland. A regional park is a concept that does not exist in countryside legislation in Scotland. However, it is one that will be of considerable value in the development of the provision of access for the public in Scotland.
It was discovered in both this and the other place that there were problems in attempting to arrive at a precise definition so that people would understand what was being proposed. It is important that not only local authorities, which will be instrumental in setting up the parks, but members of the public who wish to take advantage of the provisions of the Bill have a clear understanding of them.
763 Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 merely move round the word "extensive". This is another example of the schoolmasterly antecedents of the noble Lord who proposed the amendment in another place. Lord Selkirk's amendment is possibly of greater importance. It may be a small alteration, but it is one that requires a moment's consideration.
The concept of regional parks in Scotland is novel. We have relatively little practical experience on which to draw. We are attempting to provide a definition that makes it clear that the use of the word "substantial" neither unintentionally restricts the use of the clause nor produces an ambiguity that might require resort to the courts of law for determination.
For example, the words "a substantial part" might have been construed in an absolute sense; that is to say, in a regional park as a whole it might be necessary to show that, for instance, 2 square miles were wholly given over to recreational purposes. Comparatively, they might be so defined as saying that it was to be considered that that part of the area was devoted to the recreational needs of the public in relation to the total area of the regional park.
The difficulty arises in this way. One can imagine in the hills of Scotland, either the Pentland hills or the Lomond hills in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Fife, East (Mr. Henderson), that the development of a regional park might mean that there were hillsides carefully networked with a number of paths to which the public had access. The path would be narrow and might take up less than a small point of a per cent. of the total area. However, in terms of providing access to that part of the country, it could be substantial.
What concerned the mover of the amendment in another place and myself was that there might be an ambiguity in the sense that what was at issue was that a substantial part of the total area was required. In those circumstances, it was considered that it was reasonable—I now accept that it is reasonable—that the word "substantial" should be eliminated.

§ Mr. Barry Henderson (Fife, East)
I wish to say a brief word on Lords amendment No. 6 and then to say how much I appreciate the fact that my hon. Friend the Member for South Angus (Mr. Fraser) has accepted the amendment. There was concern about whether that might imply that a proportion of the area that was devoted to the recreational needs of the public should be high in relation to the whole area of the park. The reasons that my hon. Friend has given, that simply a pathway across a substantial part of the park could be included, should not preclude this clause from being applicable.

§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Giles Shaw)
On behalf of my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, the Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Mr. Rifkind) who, regrettably, is unable to be here today, I welcome the amendment about the new concept of parks in the clause. I am sure that it will be widely welcomed in Scotland as of great benefit. It is important that it should be included in the Bill. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Angus (Mr. Fraser) on being able to pilot the Bill to its successful conclusion. I trust that it will have a significant and beneficial effect on our Scots friends.