217.—(1) A company holding an appointment under Chapter I of Part III shall not dispose of any of its protected land, except with the consent of, or in accordance with a general authorisation given by, the Department.
(2) A consent or authorisation for the purposes of this Article shall be set out in a notice served by the Department on the company which is or may be authorised, by virtue of the provision contained in the notice, to dispose of land or, as the case may be, on every such company.
(3) A consent or authorisation for the purposes of this Article may be given on such conditions as the Department considers appropriate.
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (3) and subject to paragraph (5), the conditions of a consent or authorisation for the purposes of this Article may include—
(a)a requirement that, before there is any disposal, an opportunity of acquiring the land in question is to be made available, in such manner and on such terms as may be specified in or determined under provision contained in the notice setting out the consent or authorisation, to such person as may be so specified or determined;
(b)a requirement that the company making the disposal has complied with such of the conditions of its appointment under Chapter I of Part III as relate to the disposal of its protected land;
(c)a requirement that the company, before making a disposal in a case in which the land in question is situated in a National Park or an area of outstanding natural beauty or special scientific interest, should do one or both of the following, that is to say—
(i)consult with DOE; and
(ii)enter into such agreements under Article 9 of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (NI 1) or Article 34 of the Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (NI 7) (management agreements) or such covenants under paragraph (6) as the Department may determine;
(d)provision requiring determinations under or for the purposes of the consent or authorisation to be made, in such cases as are mentioned in sub-paragraph (c), either by DOE or only after consultation with DOE.
(5) A consent or authorisation shall not be given on any such condition as is mentioned in paragraph (4)(a) except where the Department is satisfied that the condition will have effect in relation only to—
(a)land which was acquired by the relevant undertaker in question, or any predecessor of that undertaker, either compulsorily or at a time when the undertaker or that predecessor was authorised to acquire it compulsorily; or
(b)land situated in a National Park or an area of outstanding natural beauty or special scientific interest.
(6) Where a company holding an appointment under Chapter I of Part III is proposing, in such a case as is mentioned in paragraph (4)(c), to dispose of any of its protected land, it may enter into a covenant with the Department by virtue of which it accepts obligations with respect to—
(a)the freedom of access to the land that is to be afforded to members of the public or to persons of any description; or
(b)the use or management of the land;
and a covenant under this paragraph shall bind all persons deriving title from or under that company and shall be enforceable by the Department accordingly.
(7) Article 8 shall have effect for the purposes of this Article as if every proposal which—
(a)is made by a company holding an appointment as a relevant undertaker with respect to land in a National Park or an area of outstanding natural beauty or special scientific interest; and
(b)is a proposal for which the Department’s consent or authorisation is required under this Article,
were a proposal relating to the functions of such an undertaker.
(8) In this Article—
“area of outstanding natural beauty or special scientific interest” means an area which—
is for the time being designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty under Article 14 of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (NI 1); or
is an area in relation to which a notification under Article 28 of the Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (NI 7) (areas of special scientific interest) for the time being has effect;
“National Park” means an area designated as a National Park under Article 12 of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (NI 1).