Environment (Wales) Act 2016

73 Power to serve notices for protection of European marine sites

In the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967, after section 5A (as inserted by section 72) insert⁠—

“5B European marine sites: power of Welsh Ministers to serve site protection notice

(1) If it appears to the Welsh Ministers that harm to a European marine site has occurred, or is likely to occur, as a result of any activity—

(a) carried on in the exercise of a right conferred by an order made by them under section 1 of this Act, or

(b) authorised in pursuance of provision made by or under such an order which confers a right of regulating a fishery,

the Welsh Ministers may serve a site protection notice on the grantees of the order.

(2) A site protection notice is a notice which requires the grantees to take steps specified in the notice for the purpose of preventing harm (or further harm) to the European marine site.

(3) The provision that may be made by a site protection notice includes provision prohibiting, restricting or interfering with the exercise of any right conferred by the order.

(4) A site protection notice must—

(a) be in writing,

(b) set out the reasons for giving the notice, and

(c) specify the time by which, or the period for which, the steps specified in the notice must be taken.

(5) The Welsh Ministers must consult the grantees of the order before serving a site protection notice on them, unless it appears to the Welsh Ministers that there is an urgent need to take steps to prevent harm (or further harm) to the European marine site.

(6) The Welsh Ministers may vary or cancel a site protection notice by serving notice of the variation or cancellation on the grantees of the order.

(7) The Welsh Ministers must publish every notice served by them under this section in such manner as they consider appropriate for the purpose of bringing the notice to the attention of persons likely to be affected by it.

(8) Provision under subsection (4)(c) may specify a time after, or a period which ends after, the expiry of the order; and in such a case, references in sections 5C and 5D of this Act to the grantees of the order are, in relation to any time after its expiry, references to the persons who were the grantees immediately before the order expired.

(9) Subsections (2) to (7) of section 5 of this Act apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of subsection (1) of that section.

5C Appeal against site protection notice

(1) An appeal lies to the First-tier Tribunal against—

(a) a site protection notice;

(b) any provision of a site protection notice;

(c) the variation of a site protection notice;

(d) the refusal of a request for the variation or cancellation of a site protection notice.

(2) An appeal may be brought—

(a) in the case of an order made under section 1 of this Act which confers a right of several fishery, by the grantees of the order;

(b) in the case of such an order which confers a right of regulating a fishery—

(i) by the grantees of the order, or

(ii) by a person authorised to carry on an activity in pursuance of provision made by or under the order who is affected by the site protection notice or variation.

(3) Where an appeal is brought by a person mentioned in subsection (2)(b)(ii), the grantees of the order are entitled to be parties to the appeal.

(4) The First-tier Tribunal may suspend a site protection notice, or a variation of such a notice, pending the determination of an appeal.

(5) On an appeal the Tribunal may confirm, vary or cancel a site protection notice.

(6) If the Tribunal varies or cancels the notice, it may order the Welsh Ministers to pay compensation to any other party to the appeal for loss or damage suffered by that party as a result of the notice.

5D Failure to comply with site protection notice

(1) If the grantees of an order made under section 1 of this Act fail to comply with a site protection notice, the Welsh Ministers may themselves do anything that could be done by the grantees for the purpose of complying with the notice.

(2) If the Welsh Ministers incur expenses in doing anything under subsection (1), they may recover those expenses from the grantees as a debt.”