Schedules 10 and 11: Consequential and Transitional provisions
214.Schedule 10 contains consequential amendments. Schedule 11 sets out the transitional provisions and savings for SSSIs. These ensure that all existing SSSIs, notified under the 1981 Act, are taken forward into the new provisions (paragraph 2); and that, for existing SSSIs, the conservation agencies will, within 5 years of commencement of these provisions, give owners and occupiers a statement of views about the management of the land. The owners and occupiers will be given the opportunity to make representations (paragraph 6).
215.Paragraph 8 provides that if a consent to carry out operations on an SSSI has been given under the old legislation, this will still be valid (paragraph 8(1)(b)). However, the conservation agency will have power to withdraw or modify that consent (section 28E(6)); in this event, the owner or occupier will have a right of appeal (section 28F) and a right to payment for loss suffered (section 28M).
216.Under paragraph 9 of Schedule 11, an owner or occupier of an SSSI existing when the new legislation comes into force has the right to continue with an operation where no consent or management agreement exists, but four months have elapsed from giving notice of intent to carry out the operation. In these cases, the agency has been given power to serve a stop notice, to prevent or modify the operation. The owner or occupier, on whom the stop notice has been served, has a right of appeal (paragraph 11) to the Secretary of State, and a right to payment if he suffers loss because of it. Paragraph 9(11) of the Schedule provides that these provisions of paragraph 9 (as mentioned above) do not apply where the operations have not begun within 3 years (in most cases) from this legislation coming into force.
217.Section 29 of the 1981 Act has been repealed, but there are transitional provisions in paragraphs 15-17 of Schedule 11 to preserve the conservation protection for those sites and to maintain the benefit of any consent given to owners and occupiers for operations on those sites. Where an offence takes place on a SSSI before the new provisions come into force, paragraph 20 of Schedule 11 provides that the offences and penalties in force at that time will apply. The requirements on public bodies to carry out operations giving rise to as little damage as possible and to restore any damage will similarly not apply where operations have already started before the new provisions come into force (paragraph 14).
