Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Act 2025

Interpretation

86 Meaning of “tip” and “disused tip”

(1) In this Act, “tip” means an accumulation or deposit of waste (whatever its form or composition) from a mine or quarry other than an accumulation or deposit situated underground.

(2) Any wall or other structure (whether or not composed entirely or partially of waste) which retains or confines a tip is to be treated for the purposes of this Act as forming part of the tip.

(3) In this Act, “disused tip” means a tip situated wholly or partly in Wales other than one to which the Quarries Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/2024) or the Mines Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/3248) applies.

(4) If either of the Regulations mentioned in subsection (3) is revoked or amended, the Welsh Ministers may amend this section by regulations to change the definition of “disused tip”.

(5) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations provide that a tip of a description prescribed by the regulations is not to be treated, despite subsection (3), as a disused tip for the purpose of this Act or any provision of this Act specified by the regulations.

(6) Before making regulations under subsection (5), the Welsh Ministers must consult such persons as they consider appropriate.

87 Meaning of “threat to human welfare”

For the purposes of this Act, a threat to human welfare exists where there is a possibility of—

(a) loss of human life,

(b) serious human illness or injury,

(c) serious damage to property,

(d) serious disruption of a supply of food, water, energy or fuel,

(e) serious disruption of a system of communication,

(f) serious disruption of facilities for transport, or

(g) serious disruption of services relating to health.

88 Meaning of “owner”

In this Act, “owner”, in relation to any land, means the person who has a legal estate in the land which—

(a) is either the freehold estate or a tenancy for a specific term which has at least a year left to run and is not a mortgage term, and

(b) is not in reversion expectant on the termination of such a tenancy.

89 Definitions relating to the Crown

(1) This section applies for the purposes of this Act.

(2) “Crown land” means land in which there is a Crown interest or a Duchy interest.

(3) “Crown interest” means an estate or interest which—

(a) belongs to His Majesty in right of the Crown or in right of His private estates, or

(b) belongs to a government department or is held in trust for His Majesty for the purposes of a government department.

(4) “Duchy interest” means an estate or interest which—

(a) belongs to His Majesty in right of the Duchy of Lancaster, or

(b) belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall.

(5) “Private interest”, in relation to Crown land, means an estate or interest which is neither a Crown interest nor a Duchy interest.

(6) “Appropriate Crown authority”—

(a) in relation to Crown land, means—

(i) in the case of land that belongs to His Majesty in right of the Crown and forms part of the Crown Estate, the Crown Estate Commissioners;

(ii) in relation to any other land that belongs to His Majesty in right of the Crown, the government department having the management of the land;

(iii) in relation to land that belongs to His Majesty in right of His private estates, a person appointed by His Majesty in writing under the Royal Sign Manual or, if no such appointment is made, the Welsh Ministers;

(iv) in relation to land that belongs to His Majesty in right of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Chancellor of the Duchy;

(v) in relation to land that belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall, a person appointed by the Duke of Cornwall or by the possessor for the time being of the Duchy;

(vi) in the case of land that belongs to a government department or is held in trust for His Majesty for the purposes of a government department, the department;

(b) in any other case, the Treasury.

(7) “The Crown” is to be treated as including the Senedd Commission.

(8) Any question that arises about who is the appropriate Crown authority in relation to any land must be referred to the Treasury, whose decision is final.

(9) In this section—

(a) references to His Majesty’s private estates are to be read in accordance with section 1 of the Crown Private Estates Act 1862 (c. 37);

(b) references to a government department include a Minister of the Crown and the Senedd Commission (and see section 85 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32), which provides for references to a government department to include the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister and the Counsel General).

90 General interpretation

In this Act—

• “the court” (“y llys”) means the High Court or the county court.

• “operations” (“gweithrediadau”) includes, but is not limited to, building and engineering operations.

91 Index of defined terms

The Table below lists terms that are defined or otherwise explained in this Act.

TABLE

Terms	Provision
appropriate Crown authority (“awdurdod priodol y Goron”)	section 89(6)
authorised person (“person awdurdodedig”)	section 65(4)
the Authority (“yr Awdurdod”)	section 1(2)
category (“categori”)	section 24
contribution order (“gorchymyn cyfrannu”)	section 49
contributory (“cyfrannydd”)	section 49
the court (“y llys”)	section 90
criteria for registration (“y meini prawf ar gyfer cofrestru”)	section 7
the Crown (“y Goron”)	section 89(7)
Crown land (“tir y Goron”)	section 89(2)
disused tip (“tomen nas defnyddir”)	section 86(3)
executive members (“aelodau gweithredol”)	Schedule 1, paragraph 2(3)(b)
full assessment (“asesiad llawn”)	section 15
management plan (“cynllun rheoli”)	Section 57
non-executive members (“aelodau anweithredol”)	Schedule 1, paragraph 2(3)(a)
notifiable change (“newid hysbysadwy”)	section 28
operations (“gweithrediadau”)	section 90
owner (“perchennog”)	section 88
preliminary assessment (“asesiad rhagarweiniol”)	section 12
private interest (“buddiant preifat”)	section 89(5)
the register (“y gofrestr”)	section 6(3)
relevant public authority (“awdurdod cyhoeddus perthnasol”)	section 58
residential land (“tir preswyl”)	section 66(7)
the specified percentage (“y ganran benodedig”)	section 49
threat to human welfare (“bygythiad i les pobl”)	section 87
tip (“tomen”)	section 86(1)