Crown Lands Act 1906

1906 CHAPTER 28

An Act to amend the Crown Lands Acts, 1829 to 1894.

[4th August 1906]

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :

1 President of Board of Agriculture to be additional Commissioner of Woods

The President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries for the time being shall, by virtue of his office, be a Commissioner of Woods under the Crown Lands Act, 1851, in addition to the Commissioners whom His Majesty has power to appoint tinder that Act, and any reference to those Commissioners in the Crown Lands Acts, 1829 to 1894, and in any other Act, shall be construed accordingly, but nothing in those Acts shall authorise the payment of a salary to the said- President in his capacity of Commissioner of Woods, or render the said President incapable of being elected or of sitting or voting as a member of the House of Commons.

2 Power to effect transfers of the management of foreshore between Commissioners of Woods and Board of Trade

(1) If it appears to the Treasury on the representation of the Commissioners of Woods and the Board of Trade that the transfer of any foreshore from the management of the Commissioners to that of the Board, or from the management of the Board to that of the Commissioners, would be convenient for the purposes of administration, the Treasury may by order make such a transfer, with or without payment in respect thereof, as they think fit, subject however and without prejudice to the rights and interests (if any) of any other person therein.

(2) Any foreshore transferred to the management of the Commissioners of Woods or the Board of Trade under this section shall be subject to the like provisions and dealt with in the same manner—

(a) in the case of foreshore transferred to the management of the Board of Trade, as if it had been transferred under section seven of the [29 & 30 Vict. c. 62.] Crown Lands Act, 1866, and compensation had been paid therefor to the land revenue of the Crown ; and

(b) in the case of foreshore transferred to the management of the Commissioners of Woods, as if it had been excepted from transfer to the management of the Board of Trade under the last-mentioned section.

3 Power of Board of Trade, &c. to settle disputes as to foreshore

(1) If any claim to any foreshore on the part of the Board of Trade, the Commissioners of Woods, or the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster is disputed by any of those departments, the Board of Trade or the Commissioners of Woods with the consent of the Treasury, and the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster, may enter into an agreement for settling the dispute.

(2) Any such agreement may provide for the payment to or by the Board of Trade or the Commissioners of Woods by or to the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster of. any sum of money in satisfaction of any claim which the department to whom the money is paid may have had to the foreshore which is the subject of the agreement.

(3) Any agreement under this section shall be executed on the part of the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster under the hand and seal of the Chancellor, and attested by the clerk of the Council.

4 Power of Commissioners of Woods to pay for certain improvements out of capital

The power given to the Treasury by section one of the Crown Lands Act, 1866 (being a power to direct the costs of certain improvements to be charged to capital and repaid out of income), shall have effect as if the rebuilding and enlargement of the office of the Commissioners of Woods, the erection or re-erection of buildings, the construction or reconstruction of roads and bridges, and the enlargement or improvement of buildings, roads, and bridges, were improvements within the meaning of that section.

5 Abolition of enrolment of assignments, &c. of Crown leases

No assignment of any lease of any part of the possessions and land revenues of the Crown under the management of the Commissioners of Woods, and no instrument affecting the devolution of any such lease, shall, after the passing of this Act, be enrolled in the office of Land Revenue Records and Enrolments, and any covenant contained in any such lease requiring any such assignment or instrument to be so enrolled is hereby annulled.

6 Power of Commissioners of Works to convey bridges

(1) The Commissioners of Works may under and in accordance with the Crown Lands Acts, 1829 to 1894, convey to a bridge authority willing and able to accept such a conveyance any bridge under the management of the Commissioners and any land required for-the purpose of widening or improving any bridge, either unconditionally or subject to such conditions and upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the Commissioners and the authority, anything in those Acts to the contrary notwithstanding.

(2) For the purposes of this section the expression " bridge" includes the approaches to and abutments of a bridge, and the expression "bridge authority " means any local authority having the duty of the care and maintenance of bridges.

7 Power to transfer management of Richmond and Kew Greens

(1) Notwithstanding anything in the Crown Lands Act, 1851, it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Works and the council of the borough of Richmond to enter into an agreement for the transfer from the Commissioners to the council of the control and management as open spaces of Richmond Green and Kew Green, and on the execution of such an agreement the Open Spaces Acts, 1877 to 1890, shall, subject to any conditions and reservations contained in the deed of transfer, apply as if the control and management of those greens had been transferred to the council under those Acts.

(2) The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries and the said council may in like manner and with like effect enter into an agreement for the transfer to the council of the control and management of the land formerly part of Kew Green which lies between Kew Green and the north-west entrance to the Royal Botanic Gardens, but until such transfer the land shall for all purposes continue to be deemed to be part of those gardens.

8 Apportionment of quit and Crown rents in Ireland

The powers relating to the apportionment and charging of quit rents and other perpetual rents payable to the Crown in respect of land in Ireland conferred on the Commissioners of Woods by section sixty-one of the [3 Edw. 7. c. 37.] Irish Land Act, 1903, may, at the request of the owner of any land liable to any such rent, be exercised by the Commissioners, although no part of the land liable to the rent is the subject of proceedings for sale under the Land Purchase Acts as defined by the Irish Land Act, 1903, and the said section shall apply accordingly.

9 Limitation of time for proceedings for recovery by Crown of quit and other rents

No proceedings shall be taken by or on behalf of the Crown for enforcing the payment of any quit rent or any other perpetual rent payable to the Crown in Ireland, or any arrears thereof, but within sixty years from the time when such rent was last received by or on behalf of the Crown, and after the expiration of that period the right of the Crown to the rent and arrears shall be extinguished.

10 Payment and application of money

Any money due from or received by the Board of Trade, the Commissioners of Woods, or the Chancellor and Council of the Duchy of Lancaster under this Act shall be paid or applied as if it had been payable or received for the purchase or sale of lands.

11 Short title and interpretation

This Act may be cited as the Crown Lands Act, 1906, and with the Crown Lands Acts, 1829 to 1894 ; and for the purposes of this Act the expression " foreshore " has the same meaning as in the Crown Lands Act, 1866.