Wildlife and Countryside Act (Hansard, 28 November 1984)

§ 7. Mr. Hardy
asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he expects to see effected in the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act during the present Session.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. William Waldegrave)
. The Commons Environment Select Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the operation of the Act. Any question of considering major changes to the Act would need to await consideration of its report.

§ Mr. Hardy
Does the Minister accept that the consensus supporting conservation, to which he referred approvingly in yesterday's debate, seems to be demanding rather wider amendment of the Act than the Government seem likely to accept? Why are the Government so wretchedly lacking in imagination and so devoid of sympathy for decent demands? Will this not cause considerable rage in the circles supporting conservation unless a more reasonable attitude is taken?

§ Mr. Waldegrave
I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman's contribution to the formation of a consensus on the need for some limited changes, and I hope to see those passed on the route down which the hon. Gentleman has gone. Wider and more major changes will need to await consideration of the Select Committee's report.

§ Mr. Soames
Will my hon. Friend consider incorporating into the review of the Act the possibility of doing something to include common land, which is in many cases a reserve of habitat for wildlife? Is my hon. Friend aware that there is widespread concern in my constituency about the wildlife on the Copthorne upper and lower commons, whose protection would be enhanced by the stiffening of this Act?

§ Mr. Waldegrave
This shows that the matter to which my hon. Friend refers, and on which the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) is an expert, is serious. This also shows that once we begin to widen the Act a number of extra measures could be made, which we would need to consider carefully.

§ Mr. Chris Smith
Why have the Government not given a commitment to introduce, in Government time, their own Bill to amend the Wildlife and Countryside Act, as we had all expected them to do when they gave commitments on this matter last year?

§ Mr. Waldegrave
There appears to be agreement on both sides of the House that the so-called three-month loophole should be blocked. A private Members' Bill was introduced, which unfortunately was defective. We have offered help to improve it. We can therefore deal with this through that procedure.

§ Mr. Simon Hughes
Does the Minister accept that, outside the national parks and the sites of special scientific interest, protection for the landscape is often insufficient? Would it not be helpful if the same system of notification of farm grant applications as applies in the national parks were implemented in respect of local authorities and the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service? Would this not be in the interests of the heritage?

§ Mr. Waldegrave
That would be a wide reform, with implications for how the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food conducts its advisory service. We need to await the advice of the Select Committee.