Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Act 2025

Prospective

CHAPTER 2 E+W OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT BY THE AUTHORITY

44 Authority’s power to carry out operations E+W

(1) The Authority may carry out operations on any land if it considers it necessary to do so to achieve the following objective, but this is subject to section 46.

(2) The objective is to—

(a) prevent or deal with threats to the stability of a disused tip, or

(b) stabilise a disused tip or prevent a disused tip from becoming more unstable,

so as to avoid or reduce threats to human welfare.

(3) Where the Authority carries out operations under subsection (1), it may also carry out any consequential works of reinstatement that it considers are reasonably necessary.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 44 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 92(3)

45 Authority’s right to remove and dispose of property E+W

(1) The Authority may, for the purpose of carrying out operations or consequential works of reinstatement on land under section 44, remove and dispose of any property situated on the land that belongs to another person.

(2) If the Authority disposes of property under subsection (1) by selling it, the Authority must account to the owner of the property for the proceeds of sale.

(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent the Authority from—

(a) deducting from the proceeds of sale any expenses reasonably incurred by the Authority in selling the property;

(b) setting off the proceeds of sale, or any part of those proceeds, against any sum which the Authority is entitled to recover from the owner of the property under Chapter 3.

Commencement Information

I2 S. 45 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 92(3)

46 Duty to give notice to owners E+W

(1) The Authority may not carry out operations on land under section 44 unless it has given the owner of the land at least 21 clear days’ notice of its intention to do so, but this is subject to subsection (3).

(2) A notice under subsection (1) must specify—

(a) the disused tip in connection with which the notice is given,

(b) the nature and extent of the proposed operations and of any proposed consequential works of reinstatement, and

(c) the threat to human welfare that the operations are intended to avoid or reduce.

(3) If the Authority considers that operations need to be carried out immediately, it may carry out those operations—

(a) without giving notice under subsection (1), or

(b) where it has given notice under subsection (1), before the end of the 21 day period mentioned in that subsection.

(4) Where the Authority starts operations on land without having given notice, it must, as soon as practicable, give the owner of the land notice that the operations have started.

(5) A notice under subsection (4) must specify—

(a) the disused tip in connection with which the notice is given,

(b) the nature and extent of the operations and of any consequential works of reinstatement, and

(c) the threat to human welfare that the operations are intended to avoid or reduce.

Commencement Information

I3 S. 46 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 92(3)

47 Duty to give interested parties copies of notice E+W

(1) Where the Authority gives a notice under section 46 to an owner of land, it must also give a copy of the notice to any other person with an interest in the notice.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the following persons (in addition to the owner) are persons with an interest in a notice—

(a) a person occupying land on which the operations specified in the notice are to be carried out;

(b) a person who, to the Authority’s knowledge, has an estate or interest in that land otherwise than as a mortgagee;

(c) a person who, to the Authority’s knowledge, otherwise than as a mortgagee—

(i) has an estate or interest in the land on which the disused tip is situated, or

(ii) had an estate or interest in that land at any time in the 12 years before the day on which the notice is given to the owner;

(d) a person who, to the Authority’s knowledge, has an interest in (including a right to acquire) all or any of the material comprised in the disused tip;

(e) a person who, to the Authority’s knowledge, has at any time within the 12 year period mentioned in paragraph (c), used the disused tip to deposit waste from a mine or quarry;

(f) a person who the Authority believes has, at any time within the 12 year period mentioned in paragraph (c), caused or contributed to the need for the operations specified in the notice by—

(i) carrying out other operations or performing any other activity on any land, or

(ii) failing to do something which the person might reasonably have done on any land to avoid creating or contributing to the need for the operations specified in the notice.

(3) In subsection (2), “disused tip” means the disused tip in connection with which the notice under section 46 is given.

(4) The Authority must give the copies required by this section on the day that the notice is given to the owner or as soon as‍ practicable after that day.

Commencement Information

I4 S. 47 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 92(3)