Merchant Shipping Act 1894

Local Lighthouses.

652 Inspection of local lighthouses.

(1) It shall be the duty of each of the general lighthouse authorities, or of any persons authorised by that authority for the purpose, to inspect all lighthouses, buoys, and beacons situate within their area, but belonging to or under the management of any local lighthouse authority, and to make such inquiries in respect thereof and of the management thereof as they think fit.

(2) All officers and others having the care of any such local lighthouses, buoys, or beacons, or concerned in the management thereof, shall furnish all such information and explanations concerning the same as the general lighthouse authority require.

(3) All local lighthouse authorities and their officers shall at all times give to the general lighthouse authority all such returns, explanations, or information concerning the lighthouses, buoys, and beacons under their management and the management thereof, as the general lighthouse authority require.

(4) The general lighthouse authority shall communicate to each local lighthouse authority the results of the inspection of their lighthouses, buoys, and beacons, and shall also make general reports of the results of their inspection of local lighthouses, buoys, and beacons to the Board of Trade; and those reports shall be laid before Parliament.

653 Control of local lighthouse authorities by general lighthouse authorities.

(1) A general lighthouse authority may, within their area, with the sanction of the Board of Trade, and after giving due notice of their intention, direct a local lighthouse authority to lay down buoys, or to remove or discontinue any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, or to make any variation in the character of any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, or in the mode of exhibiting lights in any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon.

(2) A local lighthouse authority shall not erect or place any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, or remove or discontinue any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, or vary the character of any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, or the mode of exhibiting lights in any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, without the sanction of the general lighthouse authority.

(3) If a local lighthouse authority having power to erect, place, or maintain any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, at any place within a lighthouse area, fail to do so, or fail to comply with the direction of a general lighthouse authority under this section with respect to any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, Her Majesty may, on the application of the general lighthouse authority, by Order in Council, transfer any powers of the local lighthouse authority with respect to that lighthouse, buoy, or beacon, including the power of levying dues, to the general lighthouse authority.

(4) On the making of any Order in Council under this section, the powers transferred shall be vested in the general lighthouse authority to whom they are transferred, and the. lighthouse, buoy, or beacon in respect of which the Order, is made, and the dues leviable in respect thereof, shall respectively be subject to the same provisions as those to which a lighthouse, buoy, or beacon provided by that general lighthouse authority under this Part of this Act, and the light dues leviable under this Part of this Act are subject.

(5) Nothing in this section shall apply to local buoys and beacons placed or erected for temporary purposes.

654 Surrender of local lighthouses.

(1) A local lighthouse authority may, if they think tit, surrender or sell any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon held by them to the general lighthouse authority within whose area it is situated, and that general lighthouse authority may, with the consent of the Board of Trade, accept or purchase the same.

(2) The purchase money for any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon so sold to a general lighthouse authority shall be paid out of the Mercantile Marine Fund.

(3) On the surrender or sale of a lighthouse, buoy, or beacon under this section to a general lighthouse authority,—

(a) the lighthouse, buoy, or beacon surrendered or sold shall, together with its appurtenances, become vested in the general lighthouse authority, and shall be subject to the same provisions as if it had been provided by that authority under this Part of this Act; and

(b) the general lighthouse authority shall be entitled to receive either the dues which were leviable in respect of the lighthouse, buoy, or beacon surrendered or sold at the time of the surrender or sale, or, if Her Majesty so directs by Order in Council, such dues as may be fixed by Order in Council, and those dues shall be subject to the same provisions and regulations as light dues for a lighthouse completed by a general lighthouse authority under this Act.

655 Light dues for local lights.

(1) If any lighthouse, buoy, or beacon is erected or placed, or reconstructed, repaired, or replaced by a local lighthouse authority, Her Majesty may, on the application of that authority, by Order in Council, fix such dues to be paid to that authority in respect of every ship which enters the port or harbour under the control of that authority or the estuary in which the lighthouse, buoy, or beacon is situate, and which passes the lighthouse, buoy, or beacon and derives benefit therefrom as Her Majesty may think reasonable.

(2) Any dues fixed under this section (in this Act referred to as local light dues) shall be paid by the same persons and may be recovered in the same manner as light dues under this Part of this Act.

(3) Her Majesty may by Order in Council reduce, alter, or increase any local light dues, so that those dues, so far as possible, may be sufficient and not more than sufficient for the payment of the expenses incurred by the local lighthouse authority in respect of the lighthouses, buoys, or beacons for which the dues are levied.

656 Application of local light dues.

(1) All local light dues shall be applied by the authority by whom they are levied for the purpose of the construction, placing, maintenance, and improvement of the lighthouses, buoys, and beacons in respect of which the dues are levied, and for no other purpose.

(2) The local lighthouse authority to whom any local light dues are paid shall keep a separate account of the receipt and expenditure of those dues, and shall, once in every year or at such other time as the Board of Trade may determine, send a copy of that account to the Board of Trade, and shall send the same in such form and shall give such particulars in relation thereto as the Board of Trade requires.

657 Reduction of local light dues.

A local lighthouse authority may, with the consent of Her Majesty in Council (if they have not otherwise power to do so), reduce all or any dues receivable by them in respect of lighthouses, buoys, and beacons.