Residents urged to petition Lords over hills

A bill seeking to reform legislation on how the Malvern Hills is run is going through the House of Lords, with people urged to take part in a "narrow window" of consultation.

The Malvern Hills Trust, which put forward the private bill, wants to reduce the number of its trustees from 29 to 12, which it says will help with workload.

However, campaigners who pay a levy to the trust as part of their council tax say the move will remove their elected representatives, and so they will be taxed without representation.

Everyone is able to share their views with parliament in a "petition period" starting on 23 January.

The trust, previously known as the Conservators, was first established in 1884 to protect and manage the Worcestershire hills and nearby land.

West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin said the key thing was how precious the hills are and how much we want to continue the legacy.

The MP urged people to share their views, adding: "If the Lords receive petitions, they are much more likely to consider it in detail in committee. If they don't hear a peep, it may just get waved through."

Campaigner Katharine Harris said 10 areas where the trust owns land paid a council tax precept - currently in the region of £50 for an average Band D household - but some areas do not pay.

"It's a tax. It's compulsory. You can't opt out. Each area has a representative on the board of trustees – someone who people are allowed to elect every four years," she said.

She said the legislation would remove elected representatives, adding: "We'll have taxation and no representation."

Campaigners were concerned the new bill would put the powers of a public authority in the hands of a privately-run charity and pave the way to commercialisation of the land, she said.

Deborah Fox, trust chief executive, said: "There are arguments about losing representatives but the difficulty is the Malvern Hills Act has never made that explicit, that there were representatives."

She said the charity would find it "hugely beneficial" to reduce its number of trustees.

"We maintain 80 miles of paths, empty 50 bins daily. We fund grazing, hay-cutting and encourage biodiversity. We are providing a backdrop to the daily lives of dog-walkers, parents and carers walking children to school and individuals getting healthy exercise.

"We are working to keep the hills open and unbuilt on. Perhaps the mistake we made is we don't shout it from the hilltops."

She said people outside the levy area contributed by buying parking passes, currently £55 a year.

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