The Ouseburn Barrage Order 2007

14.—(1) Before commencing the construction of a specified work the Council shall procure at its expense in liaison with and to the reasonable satisfaction of the Environment Agency a survey of any drainage work liable to be affected by that specified work.

(2) The Council shall from the commencement of the construction of the specified works maintain in good repair and condition and free from obstruction any drainage work which is situated within the limits of deviation or on land owned by the Council or which it otherwise has control of or is in occupation of for the purposes of or in connection with the specified works, whether or not the drainage work is constructed under the powers of the Order or is already in existence.

(3) The obligation imposed on the Council under sub-paragraph (2) does not apply where the Environment Agency or another person is liable to maintain any such drainage work and is not precluded from doing so by the exercise by the Council of the powers conferred by this Order.

(4) If any drainage work referred to in sub-paragraph (2) is not maintained to the reasonable satisfaction of the Environment Agency, the Environment Agency may by notice in writing require the Council at the Council’s own expense to repair and restore the drainage work, or any part thereof, or (if the Council so elects and the Environment Agency in writing consents, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld), to remove the drainage work and restore the site to its former condition, to such extent and within such limits as the Environment Agency reasonably requires.

(5) If, within a reasonable period being not less than 28 days beginning with the date on which a notice in respect of any drainage work is served under sub-paragraph (4) on the Council, the Council has failed to begin taking steps to comply with the reasonable requirements of the notice and has not thereafter completed them within such reasonable period as may be specified in the notice, the Environment Agency may do anything necessary for such compliance and may recover any expenditure reasonably incurred by it in so doing from the Council.

(6) In the event of any dispute as to the reasonableness of any requirement of a notice served under sub-paragraph (4), the Environment Agency shall not, except in a case of an emergency, exercise the powers of sub-paragraph (5) until the dispute has been finally determined.