143Channel Tunnel Planning Council
(1)If the Minister sees fit by order so to direct, there shall be established in accordance with Part I of Schedule 15 to this Act a body to be known as " the Channel Tunnel Planning Council".
(2)With a view to facilitating the work of any body or bodies which may be established in agreement with the Government of the French Republic for the operation of a railway linking England with France and passing under the English Channel, the Council shall be charged with the duty of carrying out the following tasks in connection with the construction and operation of such a railway, namely—
(a)formulating the operational requirements ;
(b)planning the necessary administrative and financial arrangements;
(c)making, or arranging for the making of, preliminary works trials and studies; and
(d)taking any other steps which the Minister is satisfied are necessary or expedient for the purpose of preparing for the construction and operation of such a railway;
and the Council shall in discharging that duty act in accordance with such directions, whether general or particular, as may from time to time be given to them by the Minister and, when it appears to the Council to be appropriate, in consultation with any body established in France for the like purposes, and shall have power to do all such things as may be necessary for the discharge of that duty.
(3)The provisions of Part II of the said Schedule 15 shall have effect with respect to the borrowing powers and accounts of the Council.
(4)If the Council are established but at any time thereafter it appears to the Minister that the Council are no longer required, he may by order, which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament, make provision for the dissolution of the Council; and any such order may include provision—
(a)for the disposal by the Minister of any assets of the Council in such manner as the Minister may with the approval of the Treasury determine ;
(b)for the extinguishment of any debt due to the Minister from the Council; and
(c)for the discharge by the Minister out of moneys provided by Parliament of any other liabilities of the Council;
and on the coming into force of such an order subsections (1) to (3) of this section and the said Schedule 15 shall cease to have effect.