(1)Where by virtue of any enactment including any enactment in this Act) or of any agreement a water authority are under an obligation to which this section applies, the authority and the person having the vested interest in the obligation may F1 enter into an agreement to terminate the obligation on such terms and conditions as to compensation or otherwise as they may agree; and any such agreement shall be enforceable against any person deriving title from the person who entered into the agreement.
(2)The Secretary of State may, on the application of the water authority and after affording to the person having the vested interest in the obligation an opportunity of making representations to the Secretary of State, whether in writing or on being heard by a person appointed by the Secretary of State, by order provide for the termination compulsorily of an obligation to which this section applies on payment of compensation, the amount of which shall, in default of agreement, be determined in manner provided by the Lands Clauses Acts with references to the taking of lands otherwise than by agreement, and the order may contain such incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions, including provisions for the amendment and repeal of any local enactment, as the Secretary of State thinks necessary or expedient.
(3)The amount of the compensation to be paid under subsection (2) shall be assesed by reference to the value of the rights secured under the obligation as at the date of the making of the order, and in assessing that value regard shall be had to [F2the amount of any charge under section 49, community water charge or non-domestic water rate], as the case may be, which may reasonably be expected to become payable as a result of the termination of the obligation.
(4)This section applies to any obligation on the part of any water authority providing to any person other than a district council or a water authority a supply of water (whether for domestic purposes or for purposes other than domestic purposes) to provide that supply free of charge or on terms more favourable to the person having the vested interest in the obligation than those which apart from the obligation would be applicable.
(5)The water authority shall record in the appropriate Register of Sasines any agreement entered into or order made under the foregoing provisions of this section terminating an obligation to which this section applies if the obligation was itself recorded in the Register of Sasines.
(6)Where an application under subsection (2) relates to an obligation under which the water authority making the application are required to provide a supply of water to premises in the limits of supply of another water authority or the district of a district council the order may, with the concurrence of the authorities concerned, contain provisions for the payment by that other water authority or by that district council of such part of the compensation payable by virtue of the order as the order may prescribe.
(7)An obligation to furnish a supply of water or to grant a wayleave for pipes or to give any other benefit or advantage to a water authority entered into in consideration of an obligation to which this section applies shall not be deemed to be terminated by reason only of the termination under this section of the last mentioned obligation.
(8)No water authority shall by agreement or otherwise incur any obligation of the kind to which this section applies.
Textual Amendments