Countryside Access Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Interpretation

2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

(2) In these Regulations—

“access strategy document” means a document and maps prepared by a district council and agreed by the Department of the Environment which defines routes along which public access routes should be developed within that district;

“application” means an application under regulation 4;

“authorised person” means a person (whether or not an officer of the Department) authorised in writing by the Department for the purposes of regulation 9;

“beneficiary” means—

(a)

a person whose application has been accepted by the Department; or

(b)

a person who owns or rents any farmland or farm lane following a change of occupation thereof, who has given an undertaking to comply with the obligations relating to that farmland or farm lane assumed by the previous occupier and whose undertaking has been accepted by the Department;

“the Department” means the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland;

“Department of the Environment” means the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland;

“eligible person” means a person who on the date of his application is the lawful owner or tenant of the farmland or the farm lane to which the application relates and which is situated in a district within which the district council has prepared an access strategy document;

“farm lane” means a lane used wholly or mainly by farmers, farm livestock and farm machinery for purposes connected with agriculture;

“field” means an area of land with an established boundary;

“farmland” means land used for arable cropping or grazing of farm livestock and includes grazed woodland;

“grazed woodland” means woodland which is comprised of either broadleaved or coniferous species or of both, the understorey of which is grazed by farm livestock;

“public access route” means a route through farmland or through a farm lane or through both farmland and a farm lane which for the time being is not a public right of way;

“tenant” means a person who occupies farmland or a farm lane under a contract of tenancy for a fixed term of years of which at least 10 years remain unexpired.

(1)

1954 c. 33 (N.I.)