Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are taking any action to prevent damage to footpaths and bridleways by off road vehicles and trail bikes; and if so, what this action entails.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Some public rights of way allow for the legal use of motor vehicles. Footpaths and bridleways however do not. Any person riding an off-road motorised vehicle such as a trail bike on a public footpath or bridleway is committing a criminal offence and such issues are for the police to deal with.
Byways open to all traffic do carry vehicular rights and are managed by local highway authorities. Local authorities have the power to make traffic regulation orders to close routes to motorised vehicles if any problems occur, provided they fully consider and respond to any representations they receive about a proposed order.
In response to last year’s report from the House of Lords Select Committee on the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, Defra is currently working with Natural England and stakeholders to assess current use of traffic regulation orders and refresh the guidance for local authorities.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 15 March (HL5998), (1) when did Network Rail seek the Environment Agency's assurance in providing assistance to relieve the flood problems at Cowley Bridge Junction, (2) when the Environment Agency responded to that request, and in what form, (3) when is Network Rail expected to respond to this request, (4) how long the Environment Agency forecasts it will take to assess the consequences of the structure, and (5) in the meantime, what assessment has been made of the flood risk to the railway and surrounding area.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Environment Agency (EA) agreed in 2014, following flooding of the railway line in 2012 and 2013/14, to assist Network Rail in finding a technically appropriate solution to the problem, whilst ensuring that it does not conflict with the £30 million investment in new flood defences in Exeter.
The EA has had regular meetings with Network Rail to provide advice on its culvert installation and weir removal works at Cowley Bridge. The EA has also been working with Network Rail since November 2017 to advise on the flood risk modelling for its weir removal proposals. This includes the EA providing flood history information, geomorphology commentary and examples of issues experienced in other local weir removal projects.
The EA has also established a team to assist Network Rail with the technical and permitting requirements of both phases of its works at Cowley Bridge, and has accelerated the issuing of permits for the culvert works.
Network Rail’s modelling is expected to be completed in spring 2018 and on completion the EA will provide feedback on the outputs. This is to ensure that Network Rail’s proposals do not increase flood risk to residential properties or adversely impact on the level of protection provided by new flood defences in Exeter. The EA will prioritise this work to ensure a timely response to Network Rail.
Although flood risk models have been available for discrete areas around Exeter and the Cowley Bridge location since 2005, no single model takes account of the whole system or all watercourses. The EA is working with Network Rail to ensure its latest modelling is comprehensive. In the interim there is a flood warning system for Cowley Bridge. This has been in place since 2012, with improvements to the forecasting model introduced in November 2017.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Her Majesty's Government what are the comparative statistics for air quality in (1) Nottingham, Southampton and Derby, which are proposed Clean Air Zones, and (2) the City of Bath.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The report Air pollution in the UK 2015, which was published in September 2016, reported all four locations to be compliant in all air pollutants levels with the exception of the mean annual concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) that were all reported to be above the 40 μg/m3 limit value.
The 2015 national air quality plan for NO2 showed the highest projected mean annual concentrations of NO2 to be 42 μg/m3, 41 μg/m3, 43 μg/m3 and 35 μg/m3 in 2020, for the respective air quality zones for Nottingham, Southampton, Derby and Bath. The projections modelling is being updated to take into account the latest evidence and the final revised air quality plan will be published by 31 July, following consideration of consultation responses.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in resolving problems of damage to rights of way caused by off-road vehicles and trail motorcycles.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The responsibility for the management of off-road vehicles and motorcycles on public rights of way lies with local highway authorities and National Park Authorities, who have considerable powers to deal with problems of damage through the use of traffic regulation orders and also through the use of voluntary constraint agreements.
No recent assessment of the state of the off-road network has been made, but previous research has shown that problems are localised.
In order to share knowledge and build on existing best practice Defra and Natural England have set up a one-off forum for motor vehicle stakeholders in November to share their experiences and discuss ways of working together in the future.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they propose to set up a stakeholder working party with an independent chairman to make recommendations to them concerning any damage to rights of way caused by motorised traffic.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
On 11 February Minister Stewart wrote to all the national park authorities to explain the Government was not going to establish a motor vehicle working group, as he believes in locally brokered solutions as the long term solution to issues around motor vehicles on public rights of way.
Defra and Natural England are offering to hold a one-off forum for all motor vehicle stakeholders to share their knowledge and expertise and to discuss ways of working together in the future.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 3 March (HL5173), whether the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the National Trails will be directly represented on the proposed Working Party rather than rely on representation by Nature England.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The composition of the motor vehicle stakeholder working group is yet to be decided, but before deciding on its composition we will, as a first step, invite interested organisations to put forward their suggestions for suitable members.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 23 February (HL4993), whether (1) National Trails and (2) the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which are both directly affected, will be invited to join as full members of the stakeholder working group when established .
Answered by Lord De Mauley
Defra will work with Natural England to invite stakeholders with the relevant experience and expertise to join the motor vehicle stakeholder working group. The composition of the group is yet to be decided, but the intention is that members will be invited to join the group based on their expertise and ability to work constructively with others, rather than simply on whom they represent.
We will invite interested organisations to put forward their suggestions for suitable members. The group will contain a balance of interests from across all sectors and we plan to have members who can represent the interests of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Trails.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the voting protocol for their proposed stakeholder working group on off-road recreational motor vehicles; and what is the proposed timetable for the group to report its findings to ministers and for the ensuing public consultation.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The proposed stakeholder working group on off-road recreational motor vehicles will not need to establish a voting protocol as it will deliver a report stating, if necessary, where there are differences of opinion, or where there is no consensus. It will then be for Ministers to decide what proposals in the report to take forward.
We will set a target timeframe of 18 months for the group to report to Ministers and a public consultation will follow afterwards.