Effect on landowners of the England Coastal Path - Parliamentary debate

[House of Commons]

Hi all,

We wanted to draw your attention to a debate happening today in Parliament which might be of interest:

Gordon Henderson MP (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey) is leading a debate in Westminster Hall about how the England Coastal Path is affecting landowners, particularly in his constituency in South East England.

As many of you might know, the path will give the public access to the whole of England's coastline, opening it up for hiking and rambling. However, it has been met with resistance from those who have concerns about land appropriation, the effect on farming activity and a range of other issues.

Gordon Henderson has given us the following statement about the debate:

(Link to tweet)

It's scheduled for 11:00 - 11.30 today. You can watch it any time on parliamentlive.tv:

We will also post a link to read the transcript when it becomes available.

 

[House of Commons]

Yesterday during the debate, Therese Coffey, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for DEFRA responded to Gordon Henderson MP's concerns, stating:

Understanding the strategic issues present on an individual stretch and working towards solutions to any concerns should be achieved through extensive dialogue with the landowners and occupiers, as well as the local authorities and other local interests. Natural England will also maintain frequent contact with the national stakeholder organisations as it develops its thinking on suitable alignments for each stretch of the path.

I am keenly aware that we have to continue to do as much as we can to ensure that there is meaningful engagement with landowners on the more complex stretches of the path, which are currently in development. Therefore, I expect Natural England to work carefully to identify all the legal interests on any stretch, and ensure that its emerging proposals are communicated to those interested parties early and in an easily understandable way. I also expect Natural England to ensure that adequate time is given to negotiating alignments on those stretches that include particularly complex features.

The full transcript for the debate can be found on Hansard.

Further information about the England Coastal Path, including guidance for landowners can be found on gov.uk's page: England Coast Path: improving public access to the coast.

 

[ajcc]

The mps attending this debate could be counted on one hand. Therese Coffey droned on about NE ‘s fair and transparent appeal and consultations processes before they affirm their decision. That is not representative, that is not democratic.That is not transparent.