Meetings

The Committee considered further correspondence from the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government and the petitioner. The Committee concluded that there is little further that can be achieved at this time in light of the protracted nature of arguments relating to access to inland water, and the approach proposed by the Deputy Minister following the consultation exercise carried out last year,. The Committee therefore agreed to close the petition.

The Committee considered a written statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing & Local Government issued on 4 April, and agreed to share the petitioners’ latest comments with the Deputy Minister to seek her views on the contents, and ask for more detail about the Welsh Government’s intended approach to resolving issues around access to inland waters following her written statement.

The Committee considered correspondence from the Minister for Environment and the petitioner and agreed to await the Minister’s response to the recent consultation on the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, and further detail about her intended approach to access reform, later in the year.

The Committee considered an update from the Welsh Government, together with additional comments from the petitioners, and agreed to write to the Minister for Environment to ask, further to her written statement of 19 June, for more detail about:

·         the consideration given by the Welsh Government to options for reform of access legislation in light of the responses received to the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources consultation; and

·         discussions being facilitated with the National Access Forum.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         forward the petitioner’s comments to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment & Rural Affairs; and

·         await further detail on the proposals for reform being developed by the Welsh Government.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs following her statement issued on 13 February, seeking clarification on whether the planned consultation will include the option for a statutory public right of access to land and water, and the timeframe for this.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs to share the petitioner’s recent comments and ask to be kept informed when the scope and timetable for developing reform proposals are finalised next year.