The Countryside Access (Exclusion or Restriction of Access) (Wales) Regulations 2003

Consultation by a relevant authority before giving a direction excluding or restricting access

6.—(1) This regulation applies where the relevant authority is considering whether to give a direction under:

(a) section 24(1) of the Act (land management);

(b) section 25(1) of the Act (avoidance of risk of fire or of danger to the public); or

(c) section 26 of the Act (nature conservation and heritage preservation),

which will have the effect of excluding or restricting access indefinitely or during a period which exceeds, or may exceed, 6 months.

(2) Before giving a direction to which this regulation applies, the relevant authority must send a notice complying with the requirements of paragraph (4), together with a statement setting out the terms of the proposed direction, to each of the organisations listed in Schedule 1 to these Regulations and must, if it is reasonably practicable to do so, publish the draft direction on a web-site.

(3) The relevant authority must, in addition to the requirements set out in paragraph (2):

(a) send to the relevant local access forum a copy of:

(i) a statement setting out the terms of the proposed direction;

(ii) if the question of whether to give the direction is being considered as a result of receiving an application, that application and any further information supplied by the applicant in support of it;

(iii) if the question of whether to give the direction is being considered as a result of advice given to the relevant authority by the relevant advisory body, the substance of that advice;

(iv) such other information relevant to proposed direction as it thinks fit; and

(b) send to the applicant or the applicant’s agent, as the case may be, copies of any documents sent to the local access forum, other than those documents received by the relevant authority from the applicant or the applicant’s agent.

(4) A notice complying with the requirements of this paragraph must:

(a) state any reference number allocated to the matter by the relevant authority;

(b) give particulars of the means by which members of the public may inspect, and take a copy of, the documents referred to in paragraph (3)(a);

(c) state that representations in writing, which may be made either in the English language or the Welsh language, may be made to the relevant authority by such date as is specified in the notice, which must not be earlier than 2 weeks after the date on which the relevant authority complies with paragraph (2); and

(d) state that copies of any representations received by the relevant authority may be made available to other parties to whom they relate.