Chapter 1– Register of Disused Tips
Overview of Chapter 1
36.Chapter 1 makes provision requiring the Authority to compile and maintain a register of disused tips; setting the criteria for registration and the content of the register; giving a right of public access to the register and placing a duty on the Authority to monitor disused tips in the register.
Sections 6 and 7 – Duty to compile and maintain register and the criteria for registration
37.Section 6(1) places a duty on the Authority to compile and maintain an electronic register of disused tips that it has decided (a) pose a threat to human welfare by reason of instability, or (b) could pose such a threat in the event of instability.
38.The process for including disused tips in the register, or removing them from it, is set out in Chapter 3.
39.Section 7 sets out the criteria for registering a disused tip.
40.The criteria for registration are satisfied if either section 7(a) or (b) is satisfied in relation to a particular disused tip. Therefore, a disused tip does not need to be unstable at the time of assessment to be included in the register. It must also be included if it could pose a threat to human welfare (which is defined in section 87 and explained at paragraphs 330 - 331) if it were to become unstable.
Section 8 - Content of the register
41.Subsection (1) provides that the electronic register that the Authority is under a duty to compile and maintain under section 6, must, for each registered tip, include a map identifying the area of the tip. In addition, the register must include the information listed in subsection (2).
42.Subsection (2) sets out what must be included in an entry for a disused tip in the register. This includes a unique identifier given by the Authority to the tip (for example, this could be a reference number such as T28703). Subsection (2)(f) provides that an entry in the register must include any additional information specified in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers. Subsection (3) places a duty on the Welsh Ministers to consult with the Authority before making such regulations.
43.Subsection (4) provides that the Authority may only change the mapped area for a disused tip or change the category that has been awarded to a tip, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 5.
Section 9 - Public access to the register
44.Section 9 requires the Authority to publish the maps and information in the register, other than information specified by regulations made under section 8(2)(f), which does not have to be published. In accordance with section 72, where the Act requires the Authority to publish anything, this means it must be published on the website (or other electronic facility) that the Authority is required to establish and maintain under section 71, and it may also be published in any other manner the Authority considers appropriate.
Section 10 - Duty to monitor registered tips
45.Subsection (1) places a duty on the Authority to monitor the stability, and threats to the stability, of each disused tip in the register.
46.To perform its monitoring duty in relation to a category 1 disused tip, subsection (2) requires the Authority to inspect the tip within 6 months of the tip being recorded in the register as a category 1 tip, and to further inspect the tip twice within the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the first inspection is completed. Thereafter, the Authority is required to inspect the tip twice within each subsequent period of 12 months.
47.To perform its monitoring duty in relation to a category 2 disused tip, subsection (3) requires the Authority to inspect the tip within 12 months of the tip being recorded in the register as a category 2 tip, and to further inspect the tip once within the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the first inspection is completed. Thereafter the Authority must inspect the tip once within each subsequent period of 12 months.
48.Subsection (4) provides that the Authority may carry out any other monitoring activities (including additional inspections) that it considers appropriate in relation to a category 1 or 2 disused tip. Other monitoring activities might, for example, include the use of remote sensing to detect ground movement.
49.Subsection (5) provides that in order to perform its duty under subsection (1) in relation to category 3 or category 4 disused tips, the Authority may carry out any inspections or other monitoring activities that it considers appropriate.
50.Subsection (6) provides the Welsh Ministers with the power to make regulations to amend subsection (2) or (3) to -
change any period of time, referred to in those subsections, within which an inspection or inspections (as the case may be) must be carried out;
change, in relation to any such period, the number of inspections which the Authority is required to carry out.
51.Section 74(1)(b) places Welsh Ministers under a duty to issue guidance to the Authority in relation to the exercise of its functions under section 10. In accordance with subsection (3) of that section, the Authority must have regard to such guidance in exercising its monitoring functions.
