PLOUGHING OF PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY (Hansard, 30 July 1981)

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this we may take the following amendments:
No. 264, in page 51, line 24, leave out second 'or'.
No. 263, in page 51, leave out lines 25 and 26.

§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennett
I welcome the fact that the Secretary of State has added his name to amendment No. 281, but regret that he did not add his name to the other amendments that I have tabled.
The amendments deal with redefining footpaths after the land has been ploughed,. The Opposition's view is that it is reasonable that the path should be clearly defined again as soon as possible—in fact, in a shorter period than the two weeks proposed.
To balance that, our view is that the farmer should not have to try to reinstate the footpath, because we recognise that it would be virtually impossible for a farmer to reinstate a footpath. If a footpath went across a grass field that had been ploughed the farmer could not reinstate the grass in two weeks. Our view is that the farmer should define the line of the footpath as soon as possible.
Therefore, we have tabled a package of amendments which provide for the farmer to define the route as quickly as possible, but, at the same time, we do not insist on the reinstatement. I had hoped that the Minister would consider that as a package. He still has time to consider 1304 it in the House of Lords, as this is different from the form in which the Bill left the Lords. It is important for ramblers that the path should be defined either by signposts or by the line of a tractor wheel so that they know which way to go. That is more important than to have the path theoretically reinstated when most people realise that in a fortnight or a month it would be difficult to restore the footpath.

§ Mr. Monro
I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has welcomed the amendment to change the period of three weeks to two as I promised in Committee. That seems to be generally acceptable.
We discussed the restoration of footpaths in great detail in Committee and decided that this was about the best compromise, bearing in mind all the problems on a short winter day when one is ploughing and the additional problems of reinstating a path, possibly at 4 o'clock, in the dark, and starting again at 8 o'clock in the morning. I think that we have proposed a reasonable compromise and that our amendment to reduce the time period from three weeks to two weeks should be acceptable.