SOUTH West landowners have described the Government's decision to ignore the recommendations of two Parliamentary committees on coastal access as wholly indefensible.

The Country Land and Business Association, the CLA, says the move will deny private property owners the chance to appeal against a new right of public access being imposed over their land – and squashes any prospect of compensation for loss of value or income.

An EFRA select committee recommended a third-party independent appeals process with a minimum cost to appellants, and proposed that the Government should give Natural England the power to offer compensation to owners and occupiers who could demonstrate financial loss. And it warned that the Government was placing to too much trust on Natural England to get it right.

An appeals system had also been recommended by the Joint House of Lords and House of Commons Committee.

And, said CLA regional director John Mortimer: "It is incredible that the Government has now chosen to comprehensively disregard the recommendations of an all-party cross section of MPs.

"The Government has rejected an independent right of appeal on the grounds that the cost of all the appeals against the 2000 Countryside and Rights of Way Act was lengthy and expensive. That is wholly spurious when taken in the context that two-thirds of those appeals were successful."