(1)For section 1 of the 1980 Act (which imposes on the Secretary of State certain duties as respects water conservation and supply) there shall be substituted—
It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State and of the water authorities when exercising their respective functions or powers under or by virtue of this Act—
(a)to promote the conservation and effective use of the water resources of, and the provision of adequate water supplies throughout, Scotland; and
(b)to secure the collection, preparation, publication and dissemination of information and statistics relating to such resources and supplies.”.
(2)It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State and of the new water and sewerage authorities when exercising their respective functions or powers under or by virtue of this Act, the 1968 Act or the 1980 Act—
(a)to have regard to the interests of every person who is a customer or potential customer of any such authority and especially of such of those persons as—
(i)are likely, by reason of some persistent medical condition or of family circumstances, to require to have a much greater supply of water, or to make much greater use of facilities for the disposal of sewage, than might ordinarily have been expected; or
(ii)are ordinarily resident in some rural part of Scotland;
(b)to further, so far as may be consistent with the purposes of any enactment relating to their respective functions (whether or not functions under or by virtue of this Act, the 1968 Act or the 1980 Act)—
(i)the conservation and enhancement of natural beauty and the conservation of flora and fauna; and
(ii)the conservation of geological or physiographical features of special interest;
(c)to have regard to the desirability of preserving for the public any freedom of access (including access for recreational purposes) to areas of forest, woodland, mountains, moor, bog, cliff, foreshore, loch or reservoir and to other places of natural beauty; and
(d)to have regard to the desirability of protecting and conserving—
(i)buildings;
(ii)sites; and
(iii)objects,
of archaeological, architectural or historic interest and of maintaining the availability to the public of any facility for visiting or inspecting any such building, site or object.
Commencement Information
I1S. 65 wholly in force at 1.4.1996; s. 65 not in force at Royal Assent see s. 184(2); s. 65(2) in force at 17.7.1995 by S.I. 1995/1898, art. 2(a), Sch.; s. 65(1) in force at 1.4.1996 by S.I. 1996/323, art. 4(1)(a), Sch.