Water Act 1989

139 Local flood defence schemes and local flood defence committees

(1) A scheme, to be known as a local flood defence scheme, may be made in accordance with section 4 of the 1976 Act—

(a) for the creation in the area of a regional flood defence committee of one or more districts, to be known as local flood defence districts; and

(b) for the constitution, membership, functions and procedure of a committee for each such district, to be known as the local flood defence committee for that district.

(2) Any local land drainage scheme which was made or continued in force under section 4 of the 1976 Act and which is in force immediately before the transfer date in relation to an area which becomes the area of a regional flood defence committee under this Chapter shall have effect on and after that date, and may be amended or revoked under that Act, as if it were a local flood defence scheme made in relation to the area of that committee; and, accordingly, subject to any such amendment or revocation—

(a) any local land drainage district created by that scheme and (however defined) in being immediately before that date shall be treated, on and after that date, as such a local flood defence district of the area of that regional flood defence committee as is defined by reference to the area of that local land drainage district; and

(b) any local land drainage committee created by that scheme for any such district and in being immediately before that date shall be treated, on and after that date, as the local flood defence committee for that district.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, section 5 of the 1976 Act (members and proceedings of local land drainage committees) shall have effect on and after the transfer date in relation to local flood defence committees as it had effect before that date in relation to local land drainage committees.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) above, any person who immediately before the transfer date is, by virtue of an appointment by a regional land drainage committee or any council, the chairman or a member of a local land drainage committee which becomes a local flood defence committee under this section shall be treated, on and after that date for the remainder of the period for which he would, under the terms of his appointment, have held office in relation to the local land drainage committee—

(a) as if he had been appointed to the local flood defence committee by the regional flood defence committee, or (as the case may be) by that council, on the same terms; and

(b) in the case of the chairman, as if he were a member of the regional flood defence committee.

(5) Without prejudice to his eligibility for re-appointment if he is a member of the regional flood defence committee, any person who on the day appointed for the purposes of subsection (4) of section 137 above in relation to any regional flood defence committee is, by virtue of subsection (4) above, the chairman of a local flood defence committee for a district in the area of that regional flood defence committee shall cease to be the chairman of that local flood defence committee at the end of that day.

(6) In the [1975 c. 24.] House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, in Part III of Schedule 1 (other disqualifying offices), there shall be inserted (at the appropriate place) the following entry—

“Chairman of a local flood defence committee for any district in England and Wales.”