The National Grid (Bramford to Twinstead Reinforcement) Order 2024

Discharge of water

19.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the undertaker may use any watercourse or any public sewer or drain for the drainage of water in connection with the carrying out or maintenance of the authorised development, and for that purpose may lay down, take up and alter pipes and may, on any land within the Order limits, make openings into, and connections with, the watercourse, public sewer or drain.

(2) Any dispute arising from the making of connections to or the use of a public sewer or drain by the undertaker pursuant to paragraph (1) must be determined as if it were a dispute under section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991(1) (right to communicate with public sewers).

(3) The undertaker must not discharge any water into any watercourse, public sewer or drain except with the consent of the person to whom it belongs; and such consent may be given subject to such terms and conditions as that person may reasonably impose.

(4) The undertaker must not make any opening into any public sewer or drain except—

(a) in accordance with plans approved by the person to whom the sewer or drain belongs; and

(b) where that person has been given the opportunity to supervise the making of the opening.

(5) The undertaker must not, in carrying out or maintaining works pursuant to this article, damage or interfere with the bed or banks of any watercourse forming part of a main river.

(6) The undertaker must, unless otherwise authorised under the provisions of this Order or any environmental permit relating to the discharge of water in connection with the authorised development, take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that any water discharged into a watercourse or public sewer or drain under the powers conferred by this article is as free as may be practicable from gravel, soil or other solid substance, oil or matter in suspension; but nothing in this Order requires the undertaker to maintain a watercourse or public sewer or drain or the drainage works.

(7) Nothing in this article overrides the requirement for an environmental permit under regulation 12(1)(b) of the 2016 Regulations.

(8) This article does not permit any activity listed in paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 21 to the 2016 Regulations.

(9) If a person who receives an application for consent under paragraph (3) or approval under sub-paragraph (4)(a) fails to notify the undertaker of a decision within 35 days (or such other period as agreed by the person receiving the application and the undertaker) of receiving an application, that person is deemed to have granted consent or given approval, as the case may be.

(10) Any application for consent under paragraph (3) or approval under sub-paragraph (4)(a) must include a statement that the provisions of paragraph (9) apply to that application.

(11) If an application for consent under paragraph (3) or approval under sub-paragraph (a) does not include the statement required under paragraph (10), then the provisions of paragraph (9) will not apply to that application.

(12) In this article—

(a) “public sewer or drain” means a sewer or drain which belongs to Homes England, the Environment Agency, a harbour authority within the meaning of section 57 of the Harbours Act 1964(2), an internal drainage board, a joint planning board, a local authority, a National Park Authority, a sewerage undertaker or an urban development corporation;

(b) “main river” has the same meaning as in the Water Resources Act 1991(3); and

(c) other expressions, excluding watercourse, used both in this article and in the 2016 Regulations have the same meaning as in those Regulations.

(1)

1991 c. 56. Section 106 was amended by sections 36 and 99 of the Water Act 2003 (c. 37). There are other amendments to section 106 which are not relevant to this Order.

(2)

1964 c. 40. Paragraph 9B was inserted into Schedule 2 by the Transport and Works Act 1992 (c. 42), section 63(1) and Schedule 3, paragraph 9(5).

(3)

1991 c. 57.