Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

44 Grants and loans for purposes of National Parks

(1) Without prejudice to section 11 of the 1949 Act (general powers of local planning authorities in relation to National Parks), a county planning authority may give financial assistance by way of grant or loan, or partly in one way and partly in the other, to any person in respect of expenditure incurred by him in doing anything which in the opinion of the authority is conducive to the attainment, in any National Park the whole or part of which is comprised in that authority's area, of any of the following purposes, that is to say, the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty of that Park and the promotion of its enjoyment by the public.

(2) On making a grant or loan under this section a county planning authority may impose such conditions as they think fit, including (in the case of a grant) conditions for repayment in specified circumstances.

(3) A county planning authority shall so exercise their powers under subsection (2) as to ensure that any person receiving a grant or loan under this section in respect of premises to which the public are to be admitted, whether on payment or otherwise, shall, in the means of access both to and within the premises, and in the parking facilities and sanitary conveniences to be available (if any), make provision, insofar as it is in the circumstances both practicable and reasonable, for the needs of members of the public visiting the premises who are disabled.