CONTROVERSIAL proposals to revise the way the Malvern Hills is managed will return to the House of Lords early in the new year.
The Malvern Hills Bill, which seeks to refresh the legislation governing the stewardship of the Malvern Hills, had its first debate in June and will be debated further by a group of legislative experts on January 20.
A dedicated committee will be convened to take evidence and assess the feedback on the proposals after over 50 people and local organisations submitted comments on the draft Bill.
Dame Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, has been following the Bill closely and has met with both the Malvern Hills Trust (MHT) management and objectors to hear their views.
Dame Harriett said: “The House of Lords will now begin the process of scrutinising the proposed legislation and examining the feedback local people have submitted.
“I plan to keep a close eye on this Bill as it proceeds through the House of Lords and expect revised legislation to come to the House of Commons in due course.”
The legislation has came under intense scrutiny already, with countless residents and organisations opposing its changes.
Concerned parties believe the bill will give the Trust new and wide-ranging powers whilst replacing the existing five Malvern Hills Act which have served ‘so well’ for over 140 years.
Campaigners garnered 2,500 signatures opposing the bill in October before it went before the House of Lords, with major sticking points focusing on the possibility of the trust being able to install solar farms due to its new general power plans.
Following the campaign last year and a fair amount of consultation responses, trust board members have proposed various changes to alleviate concerns.
The trust has since made changes to the proposals for general power, included plans to have a trustee as a named point of contact with each local area and have removed plans to allow fence installation for animal health reasons.
The MHT website declares only to ‘amalgamate’ all the governing provisions within a single act which has been branded misleading and incorrect by opposers.
Parliament has received over 50 separate submissions of concern, known as Petitions in Parliamentary language.
Parish councils, Malvern Town Council, Malvern Hills District Council and even the County Council have petitioned against this Bill. As well as this, a good number of local residents, councillors and even some of the Conservators or Trustees themselves have echoed concerns.
Visit https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3897/publications and https://www.malvernhills.org.uk/governance-changes/myth-busters/ for more information.
