Office of Public Sector Information

X137 Byelaws for protection of marine nature reserves

(1)[F1the appropriate conservation body] may, with the consent of the Secretary of State make byelaws for the protection of any area designated as a marine nature reserve under section 36.

(2)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), byelaws made under this section as respects a marine nature reserve—

(a)may provide for prohibiting or restricting, either absolutely or subject to any exceptions—

(i)the entry into, or movement within, the reserve of persons and vessels;

(ii)the killing, taking, destruction, molestation or disturbance of animals or plants of any description in the reserve, or the doing of anything therein which will interfere with the sea bed or damage or disturb any object in the reserve; or

(iii)the depositing of rubbish in the reserve;

(b)may provide for the issue, on such terms and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the byelaws, of permits authorising entry into the reserve or the doing of anything which would otherwise be unlawful under the byelaws; and

(c)may be so made as to apply either generally or with respect to particular parts of the reserve or particular times of the year.

(3)Nothing in byelaws made under this section shall—

(a)prohibit or restrict the exercise of any right of passage by a vessel other than a pleasure boat; or

(b)prohibit, except with respect to particular parts of the reserve at particular times of the year, the exercise of any such right by a pleasure boat.

(4)Nothing in byelaws so made shall make unlawful—

(a)anything done for the purpose of securing the safety of any vessel, or of preventing damage to any vessel or cargo, or of saving life;

(b)the discharge of any substance from a vessel; or

(c)anything done more than 30 metres below the sea bed.

(5)Sections 236 to 238 of the M1Local Government Act 1972 or sections 202 to 204 of the M2Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (which relate to the procedure for making byelaws, authorise byelaws to impose fines not exceeding the amount there specified and provide for the proof of byelaws in legal proceedings) shall apply to byelaws under this section as if [F1the appropriate conservation body were a local authority within the meaning of the said Act of 1972 or the said Act of 1973, so however that in relation to such byelaws the said sections shall apply subject to such modifications (including modifications increasing the maximum fines which the byelaws may impose) as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.

Regulations under this subsection shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(6)In relation to byelaws under this section the confirming authority for the purposes of the said section 236 or the said section 202 shall be the Secretary of State.

(7)The Secretary of State may, after consultation with [F1the appropriate conservation body , direct them—

(a)to revoke any byelaws previously made under this section; or

(b)to make any such amendments of any byelaws so made as may be specified in the direction.

(8)[F1the appropriate conservation body shall have power to enforce byelaws made under this section; but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as authorising the Council to institute proceedings in Scotland for an offence.

(9)Proceedings in England and Wales for an offence under byelaws made under this section shall not, without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, be taken by a person other than [F1the appropriate conservation body .

(10)In this section “vessel” includes a hovercraft and any aircraft capable of landing on water and “pleasure boat” shall be construed accordingly.

(11)References in this section to animals or plants of any description include references to eggs, seeds, spores, larvae or other immature stages of animals or plants of that description.

[ X1F137A Ramsar sites

(1)Where a wetland in Great Britain has been designated under paragraph 1 of article 2 of the Ramsar Convention for inclusion in the list of wetlands of international importance referred to in that article, the Secretary of State shall—

(a)notify [F2Natural England] if all or part of the wetland is in England;

(b)notify the Countryside Council for Wales if it is in Wales; or

(c)notify both of them if it is partly in England and partly in Wales.

(2)Subject to subsection (3), upon receipt of a notification under subsection (1), each body notified shall, in turn, notify—

(a)the local planning authority in whose area the wetland is situated;

(b)every owner and occupier of any of that wetland;

(c)the Environment Agency; and

(d)every relevant undertaker (within the meaning of section 4(1) of the M1Water Industry Act 1991) and every internal drainage board (within the meaning of section 61C(1) of the M2Land Drainage Act 1991) whose works, operations or activities may affect the wetland.

(3)[F2Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales may agree that in a case where the Secretary of State notifies both of them under subsection (1)(c), any notice under subsection (2) is to be sent by one or the other of them (and not both), so as to avoid duplicate notices under that subsection.

(4)Subject to subsection (5), the “Ramsar Convention” is the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat signed at Ramsar on 2nd February 1971, as amended by—

(a)the Protocol known as the Paris Protocol done at Paris on 3rd December 1982; and

(b)the amendments known as the Regina Amendments adopted at the Extraordinary Conference of the Contracting Parties held at Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, between 28th May and 3rd June 1987.

(5)If the Ramsar Convention is further amended after the passing of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the reference to the Ramsar Convention in subsection (1) is to be taken after the entry into force of the further amendments as referring to that Convention as further amended (and the reference to paragraph 1 of article 2 is, if necessary, to be taken as referring to the appropriate successor provision).]

X1F138. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

Countryside

39 Management agreements with owners and occupiers of land

(1)A relevant authority may, for the purpose of conserving or enhancing the natural beauty or amenity of any land which is F1. . . within their area or promoting its enjoyment by the public, make an agreement (in this section referred to as a “management agreement”) with any person having an interest in the land with respect to the management of the land during a specified term or without limitation of the duration of the agreement.

(2)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a management agreement—

(a)may impose on the person having an interest in the land restrictions as respects the method of cultivating the land, its use for agricultural purposes or the exercise of rights over the land and may impose obligations on that person to carry out works or agricultural or forestry operations or do other things on the land;

(b)may confer on the relevant authority power to carry out works for the purpose of performing their functions under the 1949 Act and the 1968 Act; and

(c)may contain such incidental and consequential provisions (including provisions for the making of payments by either party to the other) as appear to the relevant authority to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the agreement.

(3)The provisions of a management agreement with any person interested in the land shall, unless the agreement otherwise provides, be binding on persons deriving title under or from that person and be enforceable by the relevant authority against those persons accordingly.

(4)Schedule 2 to the M1Forestry Act 1967 (power for tenant for life and others to enter into forestry dedication covenants) shall apply to management agreements as it applies to forestry dedication covenants.

(5)In this section “the relevant authority” means—

F2(a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F3(aa)as respects land within the Broads, the Broads Authority;]

F4(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c)as respects any other land, the local planning authority.

[F5(d)F6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(e)as respects any land in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales;

(f)as respects land in any area of outstanding natural beauty designated under section 82 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 for which a conservation board has been established under section 86 of that Act, that board.]]

(6)The powers conferred by this section on a relevant authority shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any powers conferred on such an authority by or under any enactment.

X140 Experimental schemes

For subsections (1) and (2) of section 4 of the 1968 Act (under which the Countryside Commission may submit for the Secretary of State’s approval proposals for experimental schemes in relation to particular areas and are required to carry out proposals approved by him) there shall be substituted the following subsection—

“(1)The Commission, after consultation with such local authorities and other bodies as appear to the Commission to have an interest, may from time to time make and carry out or promote the carrying out of any experimental scheme designed to facilitate the enjoyment of the countryside, or to conserve or enhance its natural beauty or amenity which—

(a)in relation to the countryside generally or to any particular area involves the development or application of new methods, concepts or techniques, or the application or further development of existing methods, concepts or techniques ; and

(b)is designed to illustrate the appropriateness of the scheme in question for the countryside generally or for any particular area.”

41 Duties of agriculture Ministers with respect to the countryside

[F1F2(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2)In the exercise of his general duty under section 4(2) of the M1Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 of promoting the interests of agriculture and other rural industries, and without prejudice to the generality of that duty, the Secretary of State shall make provision, through such organisation as he considers appropriate, for the giving of

[F3(a)advice to persons carrying on agricultural businesses on the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside;

(b)advice to such persons on diversification into other enterprises of benefit to the rural economy; and

(c)advice to government departments and other bodies exercising statutory functions on the promotion and furtherance of such diversification as is mentioned in paragraph (b).]

(3)Where an application for [F4a farm capital grant] is made as respects expenditure incurred or to be incurred for the purposes of activities on land which is in a National Park [F5(including a National Park in Scotland)]or an area specified for the purposes of this subsection by the Ministers, the appropriate Minister—

(a)shall, so far as may be consistent with the purposes of the [F6the grant provisions], so exercise his functions thereunder as to further the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside and to promote its enjoyment by the public; and

(b)where the relevant authority have objected to the making of the grant on the ground that the activities in question have had or will have an adverse effect on the natural beauty or amenity of the countryside or its enjoyment by the public, shall not make the grant except after considering the objection and, in the case of land in England, after consulting with the Secretary of State;

F7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4)Where, in consequence of an objection by the relevant authority, an application for a grant as respects expenditure to be incurred is refused on the ground that the activities in question will have such an effect as is mentioned in subsection (3)(b), the relevant authority shall, within three months of their receiving notice of the appropriate Minister’s decision, offer to enter into, in the terms of a draft submitted to the applicant, a management agreement—

(a)imposing restrictions as respects those activities; and

(b)providing for the making by them of payments to the applicant.

(5)In this section—

• [F8“agricultural business” has the same meaning as in section 29 of the Agriculture Act 1970;]

• [F8“the appropriate Minister”, “farm capital grant” and “grant provisions” have the same meanings as in section 32;]

• [F9“management agreement” means—

  (a)

  in relation to England, an agreement under section 39 or under section 7 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, and

  (b)

  in relation to Wales, an agreement under section 39;

• “the relevant authority” has the same meaning as in section 39 except that in relation to England it also includes Natural England.]]

[F10(5A)For the purposes of this section the Broads shall be treated as a National Park [F11(and, as respects land within the Broads, any reference in this section to the relevant authority is accordingly a reference to the Broads Authority).].]

(6)F12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

National Parks

[F141AApplication of sections 42 to 45 in Wales

In relation to land in Wales, sections 42 to 45 (which relate to National Parks) have effect as if references to Natural England were references to the Countryside Council for Wales.]

42 Notification of agricultural operations on moor and heath in National Parks

(1)[F1A National Park authority] may, if satisfied that it is expedient to do so, by order apply subsection (2) to any land which is comprised in [F2the relevant Park] and which appears to them to consist of or include moor or heath.

(2)Subject to subsection (3), no person shall—

(a)by ploughing or otherwise convert into agricultural land any land to which this subsection applies and which is moor or heath which has not been agricultural land at any time within the preceding 20 years; or

(b)carry out on any such land any other agricultural operation or any forestry operation which (in either case) appears to [F3the National Park authority] to be likely to affect its character or appearance and is specified in the order applying this subsection to that land.

(3)Subsection (2) shall not apply in relation to any operation carried out, or caused or permitted to be carried out, by the owner or occupier of the land if—

(a)one of them has, after the coming into force of the order, given the [F4National Park authority] written notice of a proposal to carry out the operation, specifying its nature and the land on which it is proposed to carry it out; and

(b)one of the conditions specified in subsection (4) is satisfied.

(4)The said conditions are—

(a)that the [F4National Park authority] have given their consent to the carrying out of the operation;

(b)where that authority have neither given nor refused their consent, that three months have expired from the giving of the notice; and

(c)where that authority have refused their consent, that twelve months have expired from the giving of the notice.