Removal of obstructions other than vessels or wreck
22.—(1) Without prejudice to their powers under any other enactment the Commissioners may remove anything which is causing or likely to become an obstruction or impediment to the proper use of any part of the harbour, or is abandoned or left without lawful authority anywhere on the harbour premises, other than—
(i)a vessel; or
(ii)wreck within the meaning of Part IX of the 1995 Act; or
(iii)anything placed or constructed by any person under the provisions of any enactment, or of a consent or licence given or issued by the Commissioners.
(2) If anything removed by the Commissioners under paragraph (1) is known to the Commissioners to be, or is so marked as to be readily identifiable as, the property of any person, the Commissioners must within 28 days of its coming into their custody give notice to that person in accordance with paragraph (3).
(3) A notice is valid for the purposes of paragraph (2) only if it—
(a)specifies the thing removed;
(b)states that, upon proof of ownership to the reasonable satisfaction of the Commissioners, possession of the thing may be retaken at a place specified in the notice within the time to specified, being not less than 14 days after the date when the notice is served; and
(c)summarises the effect of paragraphs (4)(a), (5), (6) and (7) of this article.
(4) The Commissioners may sell or dispose of anything removed by them under paragraph (1)—
(a)where a notice is served under paragraph (2), at any time after the period specified in the notice;
(b)where no such notice is served, at any time after the expiry of a period of 14 days commencing with the date of the removal.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the Commissioners may, without notice, at such time and in such manner as they think fit, sell or dispose of anything which is of a perishable or obnoxious nature, or the custody of which involves unreasonable expense or inconvenience.
(6) Where the Commissioners sell anything in accordance with paragraph (4) or paragraph (5) they—
(a)may recover out of the proceeds of sale the expenses of removal and sale or disposal under this article; and
(b)must pay any surplus proceeds of sale to any person proving to the reasonable satisfaction of the Commissioners within 56 days of the date of the sale to be the owner of the thing at the time of the removal.
(7) If anything removed under this article—
(a)is sold by the Commissioners, and the proceeds of sale are insufficient to reimburse them for the amount of the expense incurred in the exercise of their powers of removal and sale; or
(b)is unsaleable;
the Commissioners may recover the deficiency or the whole of the expenses, as the case may be, from the person who was the owner when the thing removed came into the custody of the Commissioners, or who was the owner at the time of its abandonment or loss.