Water Resources Act 1963

109 Inquiries and hearings

(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act whereby a local inquiry is authorised or required to be held, the Minister, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Minister of Transport, or any one or more of them, may cause a local inquiry to be held in any case where it appears to the Minister or Ministers in question to be expedient to do so in connection with any matter arising under this Act or otherwise in connection with any of the functions of river authorities.

(2) The provisions of subsections (2) to (5) of section 290 of the Local Government Act 1933 (which relate to the giving of evidence at, and defraying the cost of, local inquiries) shall have effect with respect to any inquiry held by virtue of this Act, as if the expression " department" in that section included the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

(3) Subsections (4) and (5) of the said section 290 shall apply to any hearing (other than a local inquiry) before a person appointed by a Minister or Ministers in pursuance of any provision of this Act, as if that hearing were a local inquiry held by that Minister or those Ministers by virtue of that section, and as if the expression " department" in that section included the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.