Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Act 2025

Powers of entry

65 Power to enter land

(1) An authorised person may enter land for the purpose of doing any of the following things on behalf of the Authority—

(a) carrying out a preliminary assessment or a full assessment under Part 2;

(b) carrying out an inspection or other monitoring activity in relation to a tip registered under that Part;

(c) investigating whether operations need to be required or carried out under Part 3;

(d) investigating whether operations are being carried out in compliance with a notice given under section 35 of that Part;

(e) carrying out operations and consequential works of reinstatement under section 44 of that Part;

(f) inspecting any other activities that are being carried out on the land where those activities may affect the stability of a disused tip.

(2) An authorised person may, for the purposes mentioned in subsection (1)—

(a) take any other persons, equipment and material onto the land that may be necessary;

(b) leave equipment and material on the land.

(3) An authorised person may, for the purposes mentioned in subsection (1)—

(a) carry out inspections and examinations (including tests and surveys) on the land;

(b) take measurements and photographs and make recordings;

(c) take and remove samples from the land.

(4) In this Part, “authorised person” means a person authorised in writing by the Authority to act on its behalf.

66 Entry to land without a warrant

(1) An authorised person may not, under section 65, demand admission as of right to any land which is occupied unless at least 48 hours’ notice of the intended entry has been given to every occupier of the land.

(2) An authorised person may not, under section 65, demand as of right—

(a) to take other persons, equipment or material onto land which is occupied, or

(b) to leave equipment or material on the land,

unless at least 48 hours’ notice of the intention to do so (including details of the persons, equipment or material) has been given to every occupier of the land.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply if the Authority believes—

(a) that a disused tip is unstable, and

(b) that the instability of the tip poses a threat to human welfare that requires immediate entry to the land for a purpose mentioned in section 65(1)(c) or (e).

(4) An authorised person may not, under section 65, demand admission as of right to residential land.

(5) An authorised person may demand admission as of right to land under section 65—

(a) only at a reasonable time, unless the condition in subsection (3) is satisfied;

(b) at any time, if that condition is satisfied.

(6) An authorised person must—

(a) if requested to do so by or on behalf of an owner or occupier of the land, produce evidence of the person’s authorisation and state the purpose of the entry before entering the land under section 65;

(b) if leaving the land at a time when no owner or occupier is present, leave it as effectively secured against trespassers as the person found it.

(7) In this section—

• “land” (“tir”) does not include Crown land;

• “residential land” (“tir preswyl”) means so much of any land as consists of—

  (a)

  a dwelling or part of a dwelling,

  (b)

  a garden, yard, private garage or outhouse which is used and enjoyed wholly or mainly with a dwelling, or

  (c)

  in the case of a building which includes one or more dwellings, any part of the building which is used and enjoyed wholly or mainly with those dwellings or any of them.

(8) See section 70 for provision about entry to Crown land under section 65.

67 Warrant to enter land

(1) A justice of the peace may, on an application made by the Authority, issue a warrant conferring power on an authorised person to enter land, if necessary by force.

(2) A justice of the peace may issue a warrant only if satisfied, on sworn information in writing—

(a) that there are reasonable grounds for entering the land for a purpose mentioned in section 65(1), and

(b) that one or more of the conditions in subsection (3) is met.

(3) The conditions are—

(a) that it has not been possible to give notice under section 66 to every occupier of the land, despite reasonable efforts to do so;

(b) that entry to the land has been refused or obstructed or that a refusal or obstruction is reasonably expected;

(c) that it is necessary for the authorised person to enter residential land.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), entry to land is to be treated as having been refused if no reply is received to a request or demand for admission within a reasonable period.

(5) If a justice of the peace is satisfied, on sworn information in writing, that it is necessary for the authorised person, for a purpose mentioned in section 65(1)—

(a) to take other persons, equipment or material on the land, or

(b) to leave equipment or material on the land,

the warrant may also confer power on the authorised person to do those things; and if the warrant does so, it must include details of the persons, equipment or material.

(6) A warrant issued under subsection (1) may confer power on the authorised person—

(a) to carry out inspections and examinations (including tests and surveys) on the land;

(b) to take measurements and photographs and make recordings;

(c) to take and remove samples from the land.

(7) A warrant issued under this section continues in force until the purpose for which it is issued has been fulfilled.

(8) In this section--

• “land” (“tir”) does not include Crown land;

• “residential land” (“tir preswyl”) has the meaning given by section 66(7).

68 Entry to land with a warrant

(1) A warrant under section 67 may confer a power to enter land only at a reasonable time.

(2) But subsection (1) does not apply if the justice of the peace issuing the warrant is satisfied, on sworn information in writing—

(a) that a disused tip is unstable, and

(b) that the instability of the tip poses a threat to human welfare that requires immediate entry to the land, if necessary by force, for a purpose mentioned in section 65(1)(c) or (e).

(3) A person authorised by a warrant under section 67 to enter land must—

(a) if requested to do so by or on behalf of an owner or occupier of the land, produce the warrant and state the purpose of the entry before entering the land;

(b) if leaving the land at a time when no owner or occupier is present, leave it as effectively secured against trespassers as the person found it.

69 Penalty for obstructing entry to land

(1) This section applies where a power to enter land is conferred on a person by section 65(1) or by a warrant issued under section 67(1).

(2) A person who intentionally obstructs the exercise of the power commits an offence.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(4) A contravention of subsection (2) by the Crown does not make the Crown criminally liable (but see section 28(3) of the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 (anaw 4) regarding the liability of persons in the service of the Crown).

70 Entry to Crown land

(1) An authorised person may not enter Crown land under section 65 unless—

(a) the appropriate Crown authority has given the authorised person permission to do so, or

(b) the Authority believes—

(i) that a disused tip is unstable, and

(ii) that the tip’s instability poses a threat to human welfare that requires immediate entry to the land for a purpose mentioned in section 65(1)(c) or (e).

(2) In the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1)(b), the authorised person may—

(a) demand admission as of right to the land, and

(b) demand as of right—

(i) to take other persons, equipment or material onto the land, and

(ii) to leave equipment or material on the land.

(3) But the authorised person may not demand admission as of right to any part of Crown land that is residential land.

(4) If an authorised person enters Crown land in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1)(b) without the permission of the appropriate Crown authority, the Authority must inform the appropriate Crown authority as soon as reasonably practicable.

(5) An authorised person must—

(a) if requested to do so by or on behalf of an owner or occupier of Crown land, produce evidence of the person’s authorisation and state the purpose of the entry before entering the land under section 65;

(b) if leaving the land at a time when no owner or occupier is present, leave it as effectively secured against trespassers as the person found it.

(6) In this section, “residential land” has the same meaning as in section 66(7).