Water Resources Act 1991

Notice of draft order

1 (1) An application to the Secretary of State for an order under section 33 of this Act (“an exemption order”) shall be accompanied by a draft of the proposed order.

(2) Before submitting a draft exemption order to the Secretary of State, the applicant authority shall publish a notice—

(a) stating the general effect of the draft order;

(b) specifying the place where a copy of the draft order, and of any relevant map or plan, may be inspected by any person free of charge at all reasonable times during the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date of first publication of the notice; and

(c) stating that any person may within that period, by notice to the Secretary of State, object to the making of the order.

(3) A notice under this paragraph shall be published either—

(a) at least once in each of two successive weeks, in one or more newspapers circulating in the locality in which the sources of supply to which the draft order relates are situated; or

(b) in any other manner which, in any particular case, may be certified by the Secretary of State to be expedient in that case.

(4) Not later than the date on which the notice is first published in pursuance of sub-paragraph (2) above, the applicant authority shall serve a copy of the notice on—

(a) the Authority, if it is not the applicant;

(b) every local authority or joint planning board whose area comprises any source of supply to which the draft order relates;

(c) any water undertaker having the right to abstract water from any such source of supply;

(d) any other water undertaker having the right to abstract water from any related underground strata;

(e) the drainage board for any internal drainage district which comprises any such source of supply or from which water is discharged into any such source of supply;

(f) any navigation authority, harbour authority or conservancy authority having functions in relation to any such source of supply or any related inland waters;

(g) if any such source of supply or any related inland waters are tidal waters in relation to which there is no such navigation authority, harbour authority or conservancy authority, the Secretary of State for Transport; and

(h) any person authorised by a licence under Part I of the [1989 c. 29.] Electricity Act 1989 to generate electricity.

(5) Where an application for an exemption order is made, the applicant authority shall also publish a notice in the London Gazette—

(a) stating that the draft exemption order has been submitted to the Secretary of State;

(b) naming the areas in respect of which a copy of a notice is required to be served under sub-paragraph (4)(b) above;

(c) specifying a place where a copy of the draft order and of any relevant map or plan may be inspected; and

(d) where the notice required by sub-paragraph (1) above is published in a newspaper, giving the name of the newspaper and the date of an issue containing the notice.

(6) For the purposes of this paragraph—

(a) underground strata are related underground strata in relation to any source of supply if—

(i) a water undertaker has a right to abstract water from the strata; and

(ii) it appears to the applicant authority, having regard to the extent to which the level of water in those strata depends on the flow of the waters in that source of supply, that the exercise of that right may be substantially affected by so much of the draft order in question as relates to that source of supply;

(b) inland waters are related inland waters in relation to any source of supply, where it appears to the applicant authority that changes in the flow of the waters of the source of supply may affect the flow of the waters in the inland waters in question.