Countryside Access Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Obligation to permit entry and inspection

9.—(1) An applicant or beneficiary as the case may be shall permit any authorised person, accompanied by such other persons acting under the Department’s instructions as appear to that authorised person to be necessary for the purpose, at all reasonable times and on production on demand of the authorised person’s authority, to enter upon any farmland or farm lane for the purpose of:

(a) carrying out an inspection thereof or of any document or record in the possession or under the control of the applicant or beneficiary relating to, or which the authorised person may reasonably suspect relates to, an application, with a view to verifying the accuracy of any particulars given in an application or claim under regulation 7(4) or in any undertaking made by a new occupier pursuant to regulation 6(1)(b); and

(b) ascertaining whether a beneficiary has complied with any undertaking given by him under these Regulations.

(2) An applicant or beneficiary shall render all reasonable assistance to the authorised person in relation to the matters mentioned in paragraph (1), and in particular shall:

(a) produce such document or record as may be required by the authorised person for inspection;

(b) permit the authorised person to take copies or extracts from any such document or record;

(c) where any such document or record is kept by means of a computer, produce it in a form in which it may easily be read and taken away; and

(d) at the request of the authorised person, accompany him in making the inspection of any farmland or farm lane and identify any area of such farmland or farm lane which is concerned in any application or in any undertaking given by a new occupier under regulation 6(1)(b) to comply with the obligations undertaken by the original beneficiary.