Land Drainage Act 1991

15 Disposal of spoil by boards and local authorities

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and sections 16 and 17 below, an internal drainage board or local authority may—

(a) without making payment for it, appropriate and dispose of any matter removed in the course of the carrying out of any work for widening, deepening or dredging any ordinary watercourse; and

(b) deposit any matter so removed on the banks of such a watercourse, or on such width of land adjoining such a watercourse as is sufficient to enable the matter to be removed and deposited by mechanical means in one operation.

(2) The powers conferred on a local authority by this section shall not be exercisable except—

(a) for the purpose of carrying out works in pursuance of a scheme under section 18 below; or

(b) so far as may be necessary for the purpose of preventing flooding or mitigating any damage caused by flooding in their area.

(3) Subsection (1) above shall not authorise the deposit of any matter if the matter deposited would constitute a statutory nuisance within the meaning of Part III of the [1990 c. 43.] Environmental Protection Act 1990.

(4) Where injury is sustained by any person by reason of the exercise by an internal drainage board or local authority of their powers under subsection (1)(b) above—

(a) the board or authority may, if they think fit, pay to him such compensation as they may determine; and

(b) where the injury could have been avoided if those powers had been exercised with reasonable care, subsections (5) and (6) of section 14 above shall apply as if the injury had been sustained by reason of the exercise by the board or authority of their powers under that section.

(5) An internal drainage board or local authority, on the one hand, and the council of any district or London borough, on the other, may enter into an agreement providing—

(a) for the disposal by the council of any matter removed as mentioned in subsection (1) above; and

(b) for the payment by the board or authority to the council, in respect of the disposal of the matter by the council, of such sum as may be provided by the agreement.