§ Mr. BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the regulations which he plans to make under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 in order to bring it into force; and what the target dates for making each set of regulations are. [160816]
§ Mr. MeacherI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Burgon) on 9 May 2001,Official Report, column 187W.
§ Mrs. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when paragraphs 6 and 7 of schedule 7 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 will come into effect. [160751]
Mr. Robert AinsworthParagraph 6 of schedule 7 will insert a new section 34A into the Road Traffic Act 1988. This will enable a defence to a charge of driving a vehicle on certain classes of rights of way and land not forming part of a road, brought under section 34 of the 1988 Act (as amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000), to be raised in limited circumstances. The effect of section 34A will be to restrict those who can put forward evidence to rebut a presumption created by section 34 that the right of way shown on the definitive map carries only the rights applicable to that class of way.
Provision has been made in section 34A for regulations to be made specifying additional circumstances in which such evidence can be put forward. We hope to consult on proposals for such regulations later this year.