Opencast Coal Act 1958

14 Provisions as to agricultural tenancies

(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of Part III of this Act as to matters arising between landlords and tenants in consequence of compulsory rights orders, the provisions of this section shall have effect where—

(a) an authorisation is granted under section one of this Act, and

(b) immediately before that authorisation becomes operative, any of the land comprised therein consists of an agricultural holding or part of an agricultural holding,

whether any of that land is comprised in a compulsory rights order or not.

(2) For the purposes of the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1948 (in this Act referred to as " the Act of 1948 ")—

(a) the holding shall not be taken to have ceased to be an agricultural holding, and

(b) where only part of the holding is comprised in the authorisation, that part shall not be taken to have ceased to form part of an agricultural holding,

by reason only that, while occupied or used for the authorised purposes, the land is not being used for agriculture within the meaning of that Act.

(3) For the purposes of the Act of 1948, the tenant of the holding shall not be taken to have failed to fulfil his responsibilities to farm in accordance with the rules of good husbandry—

(a) by reason of his having permitted any of the land comprised in the authorisation to be occupied for the authorised purposes, or by reason of any other thing , done or omitted by the tenant for facilitating the use of any of that land for those purposes, or

(b) where any of that land is comprised in a compulsory rights order, by reason of the occupation or use of any of that land in the exercise of rights conferred by the order, in so far as that occupation or use was not permitted or facilitated by the tenant as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

(4) For the purposes of the Act of 1948 nothing done or omitted by the tenant or by the landlord of the holding by way of permitting any of the land comprised in the authorisation to be occupied for the authorised purposes, or by way of facilitating the use of any of that land for those purposes, shall be taken to toe a breach of any term or condition of the tenancy, either on the part of the tenant or on the part of the landlord.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section twenty-four of the Act of 1948 (which relates to a notice to quit given on the ground that the land is required for a use, other than for agriculture, for which planning permission has been granted, or for which planning permission is not required) no account shall be taken of the provisions of section two of this Act, and that paragraph shall apply as if section two of this Act had not been enacted.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (1) of section twenty-five of the Act of 1948 (which specifies conditions for the giving of consent under section twenty-four of that Act to the operation of a notice to quit) the condition specified in paragraph (e) of that subsection shall not be treated as satisfied if the use, for the purpose of which the landlord proposes to terminate the tenancy, is the use of the land for the authorised purposes.

(7) On a reference to arbitration under section eight of the Act of 1948 with respect to the rent which should be properly payable for the holding, in respect of any period for which the Board are in occupation of the holding, or of any part thereof, for the authorised purposes, the arbitrator shall not take into account any increase or diminution in the rental value of the holding, in so far as that increase or diminution is attributable to the occupation of the holding, or of that part of the holding, by the Board for those purposes, or to any authorised operations.

(8) For the purposes of the operation of section nine of the Act of 1948 (which relates to increases of rent for improvements carried out by the landlord) in relation to an improvement carried out on the holding, in a case where the improvement has been affected by any authorised operations, the increase (if any) of the rental value of the holding attributable to the carrying out of the improvement shall be assessed as if those operations, in so far as they have affected the improvement, had not been carried out.

(9) In the application of this section to Scotland—

(a) for the references to the Act of 1948, to sections eight and nine of that Act, to paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section twenty-four of that Act, to subsection (1) of section twenty-five of that Act and to paragraph (e) of the said subsection (1), there shall be substituted respectively references to the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1949 (in this Act referred to as " the Scottish Act of 1949 " ), to sections seven and eight of that Act, to paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section twenty-five of that Act, to subsection (1) of section twenty-six of that Act, and to paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of the said section twenty-six;

(b) for references to an arbitrator there shall be substituted references to an arbiter; and

(c) at the end of subsection (5) of this section there shall be added the words " and the use of any of the land comprised in the authorisation for the authorised purposes shall not be a use for the purpose of which the landlord shall be entitled to resume the land ".