Water Resources Act 1963

78 Borings not requiring licences under Part IV

(1) Where, at any time after the end of the initial period, a person proposes to construct in a river authority area a well, borehole or other work which is to be used solely for the purpose of abstracting, to the extent necessary to prevent interference with the execution or operation of any underground works, water contained in underground strata, or proposes to extend any such well, borehole or other work, he shall, before he begins to construct or extend the work, give to the river authority a notice of his intention in the prescribed form.

(2) Where, after the end of the initial period, a person proposes to construct or extend a boring in a river authority area for the purpose of searching for or extracting minerals, he shall, before he begins to construct or extend the boring, give to the river authority a notice of his intention in the prescribed form.

(3) A river authority, to whom a notice is given by any person in pursuance of ether of the preceding subsections, may by notice in writing to that person (in this section referred to as a " conservation notice ") require him, in connection with the construction, extension or use of the work to which the first-mentioned notice relates, to take such reasonable measures for conserving water as are specified in the conservation notice, being measures which, in the opinion of the river authority, will not interfere with the protection of the underground works in question or, as the case may be, with the winning of minerals.

(4) The person on whom a conservation notice is served may, by notice in writing to the Minister, appeal to the Minister against the conservation notice on ether or both of the following grounds, that is to say—

(a) that the measures required by the conservation notice are not reasonable, and

(b) that those measures would interfere with the protection of the underground works in question or with the winning of minerals, as the case may be ;

and on any such appeal the Minister may confirm, quash or vary the conservation notice as the Minister may consider appropriate.

(5) Any notice under the last preceding subsection shall be served within such time (not being less than twenty-eight days from the date of service of the conservation notice) and in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations under this Act.

(6) The decision of the Minister on any appeal under this section shall be final; and section 39(5) of this Act (with the substitution, for references to the applicant, of references to the appellant) and section 54 (2) of this Act shall apply to appeals under this section as they apply to appeals under Part IV of this Act.

(7) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section, or fails to comply with a conservation notice, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction on indictment or on summary conviction, be liable to a fine:

Provided that an offence under this section shall not be punishable on summary conviction by a fine exceeding one hundred pounds.