Office of Public Sector Information
SCHEDULE 9 continued
(1) Where it appears to the Nature Conservancy Council that—
(a) an owner or occupier of land is not giving effect to a provision of a management scheme, and
(b) as a result any flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features by reason of which the land is of special interest are being inadequately conserved or restored,
they may if they think fit serve a notice on him (a “management notice”).
(2) They may not serve a management notice unless they are satisfied that they are unable to conclude, on reasonable terms, an agreement with the owner or occupier as to the management of the land in accordance with the management scheme.
(3) A management notice is a notice requiring the owner or occupier to—
(a) carry out such work on the land, and
(b) do such other things with respect to it,
as are specified in the notice, and to do so before the dates or within the periods so specified.
(4) The work and other things specified in the notice must appear to the Council to be measures which it is reasonable to require in order to ensure that the land is managed in accordance with the management scheme.
(5) The management notice must explain the effect of subsection (7) and (8) and of sections 28L and 28M(2) to (4).
(6) A copy of the management notice must be served on every other owner and occupier of the land.
(7) If any of the work or other things required by a management notice have not been done within the period or by the date specified in it, the Council may—
(a) enter the land, and any other land, and carry out the work, or do the other things; and
(b) recover from the owner or occupier upon whom the notice was served any expenses reasonably incurred by them in carrying out the work or doing the other things.
(8) If an appeal is brought against the management notice, and upon the final determination of the appeal the notice is affirmed (with or without modifications), subsection (7) applies as if the references there to the management notice were to the notice as affirmed.
(1) A person who is served with a management notice may appeal against its requirements to the Secretary of State; and a management notice does not take effect until—
(a) the expiry of the period for appealing against it; or
(b) if an appeal is brought, its withdrawal or final determination.
(2) An appeal may be on the ground that some other owner or occupier of the land should take all or any of the measures specified in the management notice, or should pay all or part of their cost.
(3) Where the grounds of appeal are, or include, that mentioned in subsection (2), the appellant must serve a copy of his notice of appeal on each other person referred to.
(4) Before determining an appeal, the Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit—
(a) cause the appeal to take, or continue in, the form of a hearing (which may be held wholly or partly in private if the appellant so requests and the person hearing the appeal agrees), or
(b) cause a local inquiry to be held,
and he must act as mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) if either party to the appeal (or, in a case falling within subsection (2), any of the other persons mentioned there) asks to be heard in connection with the appeal.
(5) On determining the appeal, the Secretary of State may quash or affirm the management notice; and if he affirms it, he may do so either in its original form or with such modifications as he thinks fit.
(6) In particular, on determining an appeal whose grounds are, or include, those mentioned in subsection (2), the Secretary of State may—
(a) vary the management notice so as to impose its requirements (or some of them) upon any such other person as is referred to in the grounds; or
(b) determine that a payment is to be made by any such other person to the appellant.
(7) In exercising his powers under subsection (6), the Secretary of State must take into account, as between the appellant and any of the other people referred to in subsection (2)—
(a) their relative interests in the land (considering both the nature of the interests and the rights and obligations arising under or by virtue of them);
(b) their relative responsibility for the state of the land which gives rise to the requirements of the management notice; and
(c) the relative degree of benefit to be derived from carrying out the requirements of the management notice.
(8) The Secretary of State may by regulations made by statutory instrument make provision about appeals under this section, and in particular about—
(a) the period within which and the manner in which appeals are to be brought, and
(b) the manner in which they are to be considered,
and any such regulations may make different provision for different cases or circumstances.
(9) A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (8) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(10) The Secretary of State may appoint any person to exercise on his behalf, with or without payment, his function of determining an appeal under this section or any matter involved in such an appeal.
(11) Schedule 10A shall have effect with respect to appointments under subsection (10).
(12) Subsections (2) to (5) of section 250 of the [1972 c. 70.] Local Government Act 1972 (local inquiries: evidence and costs) apply in relation to hearings or local inquiries under this section as they apply in relation to local inquiries under that section, but as if the reference there—
(a) to the person appointed to hold the inquiry were a reference to the Secretary of State or to the person appointed to conduct the hearing or hold the inquiry under this section; and
(b) to the Minister causing an inquiry to be held were to the Secretary of State.
(13) Section 322A of the [1990 c. 8.] Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (orders as to costs where no hearing or inquiry takes place) applies in relation to a hearing or local inquiry under this section as it applies in relation to a hearing or local inquiry referred to in that section.
(1) Where the Council, under section 28E(6), modify or withdraw a consent, they shall make a payment to any owner or occupier of the land who suffers loss because of the modification or withdrawal.
(2) The Council may, if they think fit, make one or more payments to any owner or occupier of land in relation to which a management scheme under section 28J is in force.
(3) The amount of a payment under this section is to be determined by the Council in accordance with guidance given and published by the Ministers.
(4) Section 50(3) applies to the determination of the amount of payments under this section as it applies to the determination of the amount of payments under that section.
(1) The Nature Conservancy Council may in circumstances set out in subsection (2) acquire compulsorily all or any part of a site of special scientific interest.
(2) The circumstances are—
(a) that the Council are satisfied that they are unable to conclude, on reasonable terms, an agreement with the owner or occupier as to the management of the land; or
(b) that the Council have entered into such an agreement, but they are satisfied that it has been breached in such a way that the land is not being managed satisfactorily.
(3) A dispute about whether or not there has been a breach of the agreement for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) is to be determined by an arbitrator appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
(4) Where the Council have acquired land compulsorily under this section, they may—
(a) manage it themselves; or
(b) dispose of it, or of any interest in it, on terms designed to secure that the land is managed satisfactorily.
(5) Section 103 of the 1949 Act (general provisions as to acquisition of land) applies for the purposes of this section as it applies for the purposes of that Act.
(1) A person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes section 28E(1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fine.
(2) A section 28G authority which, in the exercise of its functions, carries out an operation which damages any of the flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features by reason of which a site of special scientific interest is of special interest—
(a) without first complying with section 28H(1), or
(b) (if it has complied with section 28H(1)) without first complying with section 28H(4)(a),
is, unless there was a reasonable excuse for carrying out the operation without complying, guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fine.
(3) A section 28G authority acting in the exercise of its functions which, having complied with section 28H(1), fails without reasonable excuse to comply with section 28H(4)(b) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fine.
(4) For the purposes of subsections (1), (2) and (3), it is a reasonable excuse in any event for a person to carry out an operation (or to fail to comply with a requirement to send a notice about it) if—
(a) subject to subsection (5), the operation in question was authorised by a planning permission granted on an application under Part III of the [1990 c. 8.] Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or permitted by a section 28G authority which has acted in accordance with section 28I; or
(b) the operation in question was an emergency operation particulars of which (including details of the emergency) were notified to the Nature Conservancy Council as soon as practicable after the commencement of the operation.
(5) If an operation needs both a planning permission and the permission of a section 28G authority, subsection (4)(a) does not provide reasonable excuse unless both have been obtained.
(6) A person (other than a section 28G authority acting in the exercise of its functions) who without reasonable excuse—
(a) intentionally or recklessly destroys or damages any of the flora, fauna, or geological or physiographical features by reason of which land is of special interest, or intentionally or recklessly disturbs any of those fauna, and
(b) knew that what he destroyed, damaged or disturbed was within a site of special scientific interest,
is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fine.
(7) It is a reasonable excuse in any event for a person to do what is mentioned in subsection (6) if—
(a) paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (4) is satisfied in relation to what was done (reading references there to an operation as references to the destruction, damage or disturbance referred to in subsection (6)), and
(b) where appropriate, subsection (5) is also satisfied, reading the reference there to an operation in the same way.
(8) A person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with a requirement of a management notice is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on conviction on indictment to a fine.
(9) In determining the amount of any fine to be imposed on a person convicted of an offence under this section, the court shall in particular have regard to any financial benefit which has accrued or appears likely to accrue to him in consequence of the offence.
(10) Proceedings in England and Wales for an offence under this section shall not, without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, be taken by a person other than the Council.
(11) In this section, “a section 28G authority” means an authority to which section 28G applies.
(1) This section applies where the owner of land included in a site of special scientific interest—
(a) disposes of any interest of his in the land; or
(b) becomes aware that it is occupied by an additional or a different occupier.
(2) If this section applies, the owner shall send a notice to the Nature Conservancy Council before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which he disposed of the interest or became aware of the change in occupation.
(3) The notice is to specify the land concerned and—
(a) in a subsection (1)(a) case, the date on which the owner disposed of the interest in the land, and the name and address of the person to whom he disposed of the interest; or
(b) in a subsection (1)(b) case, the date on which the change of occupation took place (or, if the owner does not know the exact date, an indication of when to the best of the owner’s knowledge it took place), and, as far as the owner knows them, the name and address of the additional or different occupier.
(4) A person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the requirements of this section is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (1), an owner “disposes of” an interest in land if he disposes of it by way of sale, exchange or lease, or by way of the creation of any easement, right or privilege, or in any other way except by way of mortgage.
(1) The Nature Conservancy Council may make byelaws for the protection of a site of special scientific interest.
(2) The following provisions of the 1949 Act apply in relation to byelaws under this section as they apply in relation to byelaws under section 20 of that Act—
(a) subsections (2) and (3) of section 20 (reading references there to nature reserves as references to sites of special scientific interest); and
(b) sections 106 and 107.”
2 Section 29 (special protection for certain areas of special scientific interest) and section 30 (compensation where an order is made under section 29) of the 1981 Act shall cease to have effect.
3 (1) Section 31 of the 1981 Act (restoration where order under section 29 is contravened) is amended as follows.
(2) For subsection (1) there is substituted—
“(1) Where—
(a) the operation in respect of which a person is convicted of an offence under section 28P(1), (2) or (3) has destroyed or damaged any of the flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features by reason of which a site of special scientific interest is of special interest, or
(b) a person is convicted of an offence under section 28P(6),
the court by which he is convicted, in addition to dealing with him in any other way, may make an order requiring him to carry out, within such period as may be specified in the order, such operations (whether on land included in the site of special scientific interest or not) as may be so specified for the purpose of restoring the site of special scientific interest to its former condition.”
(3) For the sidenote, there is substituted “Restoration following offence under section 28P.”.
4 In section 32 (duties of agriculture Ministers with respect to areas of special scientific interest), in subsection (1), for “land notified under section 28(1)” there is substituted “land included in a site of special scientific interest”.
5 (1) Section 52 of the 1981 Act (interpretation of Part II) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), after the definition of “the Nature Conservancy Councils” there is inserted—
““notice” and “notification” mean notice or notification in writing;
“site of special scientific interest” means an area of land which has been notified under section 28(1)(b);”.
(3) In subsection (2), after “district planning authority” there is inserted “and, in sections 28 to 28D, shall also be construed in accordance with section 28(10);”.
(4) After subsection (2) there is inserted—
“(2A) Where a notification under section 28(1)(b) has been—
(a) modified under section 28(5)(b),
(b) varied under section 28A(3), or
(c) varied with modifications under section 28A(5)(b),
(d) extended under section 28B(2), or
(e) extended with modifications by virtue of section 28B(7),
a reference to such a notification (however expressed) is (unless the context otherwise requires) a reference to the notification as thus altered.
(2B) References to a notification under section 28(1) or 28(5)(b), or to a local land charge existing by virtue of section 28(9), shall be construed in accordance with section 28C(9).
(2C) For the purposes of this Part, in relation to land in England and Wales which is common land, “occupier” includes the commoners or any of them; and
(a) “common land” means common land as defined in section 22 of the [1965 c. 64.] Commons Registration Act 1965; and
(b) “commoner” means a person with rights of common as defined in that section.”
6 In section 67 of the 1981 Act (application to Crown), after subsection (1) there is inserted—
“(1A) An interest in Crown land, other than one held by or on behalf of the Crown, may be acquired under section 28N, but only with the consent of the appropriate authority.
(1B) Byelaws made by virtue of section 28R may apply to Crown land if the appropriate authority consents.”
7 In the 1981 Act, after Schedule 10 there is inserted the following Schedule—
1 In this Schedule—
“appointed person” means a person appointed under section 28F(8) or 28L(10); and
“appointment”, in the case of any appointed person, means appointment under either of those provisions.
2 An appointment under section 28F(8) or 28L(10) must be in writing and—
(a) may relate to any particular appeal or matter specified in the appointment or to appeals or matters of a description so specified;
(b) may provide for any function to which it relates to be exercisable by the appointed person either unconditionally or subject to the fulfilment of such conditions as may be specified in the appointment; and
(c) may, by notice in writing given to the appointed person, be revoked at any time by the Secretary of State in respect of any appeal or matter which has not been determined by the appointed person before that time.
3 Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, an appointed person shall, in relation to any appeal or matter to which his appointment relates, have the same powers and duties as the Secretary of State, other than—
(a) any function of making regulations;
(b) any function of holding an inquiry or other hearing or of causing an inquiry or other hearing to be held; or
(c) any function of appointing a person for the purpose—
(i) of enabling persons to appear before and be heard by the person so appointed, or
(ii) of referring any question or matter to that person.
4 (1) If either of the parties to an appeal or matter expresses a wish to appear before and be heard by the appointed person, the appointed person shall give both of them an opportunity of appearing and being heard.
(2) Whether or not a party to an appeal or matter has asked for an opportunity to appear and be heard, the appointed person—
(a) may hold a local inquiry or other hearing in connection with the appeal or matter, and
(b) shall, if the Secretary of State so directs, hold a local inquiry in connection with the appeal or matter.
(3) Where an appointed person holds a local inquiry or other hearing by virtue of this Schedule, an assessor may be appointed by the Secretary of State to sit with the appointed person at the inquiry or hearing and advise him on any matters arising, notwithstanding that the appointed person is to determine the appeal or matter.
(4) Subject to section 28F(10) or 28L(12), the costs of a local inquiry held under this Schedule shall be defrayed by the Secretary of State.
5 (1) Where under paragraph 2(c) the appointment of the appointed person is revoked in respect of any appeal or matter, the Secretary of State shall, unless he proposes to determine the appeal or matter himself, appoint another person under section 28F(8) or 28L(10) to determine the appeal or matter instead.
(2) Where such a new appointment is made, the consideration of the appeal or matter, or any hearing in connection with it, shall be begun afresh.
(3) Nothing in sub-paragraph (2) shall require any person to be given an opportunity of making fresh representations or modifying or withdrawing any representations already made.
6 (1) Anything done or omitted to be done by an appointed person in, or in connection with, the exercise or purported exercise of any function to which the appointment relates shall be treated for all purposes as done or omitted to be done by the Secretary of State.
(2) Sub-paragraph (1) shall not apply—
(a) for the purposes of so much of any contract made between the Secretary of State and the appointed person as relates to the exercise of the function; or
(b) for the purposes of any criminal proceedings brought in respect of anything done or omitted to be done as mentioned in that sub-paragraph.”
Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000