§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list those sections of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 under which they intend to lay regulations; and [HL225]
Whether they will list the consultation papers which they have so far issued on proposals to make regulations under the Countryside and Rights of 124WA Way Act 2000; the dates by which comments were sought; and the expected dates for laying regulations in each case; and [HL226]
Whether they will set out their future timetable for issuing consultation papers on regulations under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. [HL227]
§ Lord WhittyWe intend to lay regulations under the following sections of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
Section 11: Mapping of access land and consultation on draft maps. Issue of provisional maps, appeals, and issue of conclusive maps. Review of conclusive maps. Section 16: Dedication of land for access. Section 31: Exclusion of access in emergencies. Section 32: Exclusion or restriction of access under Chapter II, including appeals. Section 38: Appeals relating to notices. Paragraph 7 of Removal or relaxation of restrictions on Schedule 2: access land. Section 51 & Regulations relating to definitive maps Schedule 5: and statements; Provision for a later cut-off date for recording byways open to all traffic on definitive maps. Transitional provisions. Section 52: Application of highways provisions to restricted byways, with or without modifications. Section 54: Provision for excepted highways at the cut-off date. Section 56: Provision for a later cut-off date, and transitional provisions. Section 57 & Various provisions relating to the Schedule 6: creation, stopping up and diversion of highways; deemed dedication registers. Section 61: Consultation with additional persons in relation to rights of way improvement plans. Section 63: Procedures for removal of obstructions. Section 67 & Additional circumstances in which a Schedule 7: defence may be offered to a charge under section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Section 68: Vehicular access across common land. Section 71: Requirement for local highway authorities to publish reports on the performance of specified functions. Sections 94 & 95: Establishment of local access forums and the appointment of members. Section 98: Town and village greens. Paragraph 11 of Appeals in relation to Sites of Special Schedule 11: Scientific Interest. We shall review the case for regulations under Section 42 of the Act before general implementation of the right of access. In addition, a number of planning authorities for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have approached my department with proposals to create conservation boards under Part IV, Section 88 of the Act. We are considering these proposals and may in time propose regulations to implement them.
Two consultation papers have been issued to date on proposals to make regulations under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000: Proposals for regulations on draft maps under section 11 of the 125WA Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000, for which the consultation period ended on 20 June 2001 and our provisional target date for laying regulations is October 2001; and Sites of Special Scientific Interest Appeals Regulations, for which the consultation period closes on 23 August 2001. We expect to lay those regulations before Parliament in the autumn.
The provisional timetable for consultation on and bringing into force regulations under Parts I and II of the Act is as follows:
Part I Regulation Section Consultation commenced Date regulations in force Mapping of access land and consultation on draft maps Section 11 March 2001 October 2001 Issue of provisional maps, appeals, and issue of conclusive maps Section 11 October 2001 April 2002 Dedication of land for access Section 16 October 2001 March 2002 Exclusion or restriction of access under Chapter II, including appeals Section 32 November 2001 May 2002 Removal or relaxation of restrictions on access land and to exclude access in emergencies Para 7, Schedule 2; Section 31 November 2002 May 2003 Appeals relating to notices Section 38 February 2003 August 2003 Review of conclusive maps Section 11 February 2004 August 2004 Part II
Our principal objective in respect of Part II of the Act is to complete consultations and to lay the necessary regulations during the year 2002–03.
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Regulation Section Consultation Consultation with additional persons in relation to rights of way improvement plans. Section 61 October-December 2001 Regulations relating to definitive maps and statements. Section 51 & Schedule 5; December 2001–February 2002 Form and content of deemed dedication registers. Section 57 & Paragraph 4 of Schedule 6; Procedures for removal of obstructions. Section 63 Additional circumstances in which a defence may be offered to a charge under s34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Section 67 & Schedule 7. Application of highways provisions to restricted byways, with or without modifications. Section 52 February-April 2002 Various provisions relating to the creation, stopping up and diversion of highways. Section 57 and Schedule 6 Requirement for local highway authorities to publish reports on the performance of specified functions. Section 71 May-July 2002 Consultation on proposals for regulations under Section 68 will take place shortly. Laying of draft regulations before Parliament is planned for the autumn. Consultation on proposals for regulations under Sections 94 and 95 will start in July 2001; with a closing date for responses in October 2001 and a provisional target date of December 2001 for bringing the regulations into force.
We have no firm dates for the Section 98 regulations, although we hope to go out to public consultation towards the end of the year, and lay draft regulations early in 2002. In the longer term we also plan to introduce regulations under Section 51 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 5, Section 54 and Section 56.