Spray Irrigation (Scotland) Act 1964

3 Licences

(1) A person may apply for a licence to abstract water for the purpose of spray irrigation from a stream specified in his application where he is the occupier of land contiguous to that stream or where he will be such an occupier on the date when the licence comes into force.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this Act any such licence shall remain in force for one calendar year, and any application therefor shall be made not later than the 15th day of September in the year immediately preceding the year for which it is proposed that the licence is to be in force.

(3) An application for a licence under this section shall be made to the appropriate river purification board and shall contain such information as to the source of supply, the point of abstraction of water, the amount of water to be abstracted, the land to be irrigated, the purpose of the irrigation, and other matters relevant to consideration of the application, as that board may require.

(4) It shall be the duty of a river purification board

(a) in each year, as soon as may be after the date mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, to publish in a local newspaper circulating in each area to which a control order relates, a notice stating briefly the nature of any applications made to them for licences in that area and where and when particulars of those applications may be inspected ; and

(b) to maintain at their office a register containing particulars of any application made or licence granted for the purposes of this Act to be open to public inspection free of charge at all reasonable hours; and the particulars of any such application or licence shall be entered in that register within seven days of the receipt of the application, or as the case may be, the granting of the licence.

(5) Any person who objects to such an application may, not later than the 15th day of October in the year in which the application is made, make representations accordingly in writing to the board.

(6) A river purification board, having regard to their statutory duties, and after consideration of an application and any representations against it duly made—

(a) may grant a licence either unconditionally or containing such conditions as they may reasonably impose, which, without prejudice to that generality, may include conditions as to the means of abstraction of water, the point of abstraction of water, the amount of water to be abstracted during any period, and the periods during which water may be abstracted, or

(b) may refuse to consent to the application, and in the case of refusal of consent the board shall communicate in writing their decision and the reasons therefor to the applicant.

(7) Where a river purification board fail to inform an applicant of their decision on his application by the 15th day of November in the year in which the application is made, the application shall be deemed to have been granted unconditionally, and the board shall issue a licence accordingly.

(8) Where on an application under this section the applicant is aggrieved by the decision of the river purification board, he may, within 28 days of his receipt of that decision appeal by notice in writing to the Secretary of State; and the applicant shall, within that time, serve a copy of that notice on the river purification board.

(9) Where an appeal is brought as aforesaid, the Secretary of State may allow or dismiss the appeal, or may cancel or vary any condition attached to the licence, whether the appeal relates to that condition or not, and may deal with the application as if it had been made to him in the first instance.

(10) Where any representations have been made under subsection (5) of this section, the Secretary of State, before determining the appeal, shall require the river purification board to serve a copy of the notice of appeal on each of the persons who made those representations; and the Secretary of State, in determining the appeal, shall take into account any further representations in writing received by him from those persons within such time as he may direct.

(11) Before determining any appeal under this section the Secretary of State shall, if the applicant or the river purification board or any person who under subsection (5) of this section has made representations regarding the application so desire, afford to them an opportunity of appearing before and being heard by a person appointed by the Secretary of State for the purpose.

(12) The decision of the Secretary of State on any appeal under this section shall be final.

(13) On the granting of a licence under this section there shall be payable to the river purification board by the holder of the licence a fee of £5 or such other sum as the Secretary of State may by order prescribe.

(14) Any licence granted under this section shall specify—

(a) the person to whom and the land to which it relates;

(b) the year in respect of which it is to be in force ;

(c) the purpose for which the water is to be abstracted for spray irrigation under the licence ; and

(d) any conditions to which the licence is subject by virtue of this section.

(15) In any action brought against a person in respect of the abstraction of water from a source of supply, it shall be a defence for him to prove that the water was abstracted in pursuance of a licence under this Act, and that the provisions of the licence were complied with.