Coal Industry Act 1975

2New right of Board to withdraw support to enable coal to be worked

(1)Subject to the provisions of this section and of Schedule 1 to this Act, so far as may be reasonably requisite for the working of any coal, the Board shall be entitled, after the expiry of the period of three months beginning on the relevant date of publication of a notice under this section, to withdraw support from any land to which the notice relates (whether the coal concerned lies under that land or under land adjacent to that land); and on and after the commencement of this Act the right conferred on the Board by this section shall have effect in substitution for any right to withdraw support vested in or conferred on the Board before that commencement under or by virtue of any other enactment.

(2)A notice under this section—

(a)shall indicate the land to which it relates, either by reference to a map or in such other manner as appears to the Board to be appropriate in the circumstances of the case, and

(b)shall state the Board's intention to exercise in relation to that land the right conferred on the Board by this section, and

(c)shall be published—

(i)in the London Gazette or, if the land to which the notice relates is situated in Scotland, in the Edinburgh Gazette; and

(ii)on two successive weeks in such newspapers circulating in the locality concerned as appear to the Board to be desirable for giving adequate publicity to the notice;

and any reference in this section to the relevant date of publication of a notice is a reference to the date on which the notice is published in accordance with sub-paragraph (i) or, if it is later, is first published in accordance with sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (c) above.

(3)Not later than the relevant date of publication of a notice under this section, the Board shall—

(a)serve a copy of the notice on every local planning authority in whose area or, in Scotland, on every planning authority in whose district lies any part of the land to which the notice relates, and

(b)post a copy or copies of the notice in some conspicuous place or places on the land to which the notice relates,

and the reference in this subsection to a local planning authority shall be construed, in relation to England and Wales, as if this subsection were included in the [1971 c. 78.] Town and Country Planning Act 1971.

(4)Subject to the provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act, where damage to any land arises from the exercise of the right to withdraw support conferred on the Board by this section, the Board shall either—

(a)pay proper compensation for the damage, or

(b)with the consent (which shall not be unreasonably with held) of the person who would otherwise be entitled to the payment of compensation for the damage, make good the damage to the reasonable satisfaction of that person and without expense to him ;

and the obligation imposed on the Board by this subsection shall extend to damage to buildings and works on that land, whenever constructed.

(5)In any case where, immediately before the commencement of this Act, the Board or a licensee of the Board had a right to withdraw support from any land—

(a)by virtue of paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the [1938 c. 52.] Coal Act 1938 (cases where rights to withdraw support were annexed to coal or a mine of coal before the valuation date), or

(b)by virtue of paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the [1943 c. 38.] Coal Act 1943 (rights to withdraw support from protected and other land originally comprised in a coal-mining lease),

the Board shall be deemed to have published, on the date on which this Act comes into operation, a notice under this section relating to that land and, in relation to the withdrawal of support from that land, subsection (1) above shall have effect with the substitution for the words " the expiry of the period of three months beginning on the relevant date of publication of " of the word " publishing " and, accordingly, subsections (2)(c) and (3) above shall not apply.

(6)In any case where, before the commencement of this Act, the Board or the Coal Commission have given public- notice under paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 2 to the [1938 c. 52.] Coal Act 1938 (notice of first exercising a right to withdraw support or of granting the benefit of such a light to another person) relating, to any land under which there subsists at the commencement of this Act any coal or a mine of coal, the Board shall be deemed to have published, on the date on which this Act comes into operation, a notice under this section relating to that land and, in relation to the withdrawal of support from that land, subsection (1) above shall have effect with the substitution for the words " the expiry of the period of three Months- beginning on the relevant date of publication of " of the word " publishing" and, accordingly, subsections (2)(c) and (3) above shall not apply.

(7)In any ease where, by virtue of a licence granted by or otherwise binding on the Board, any person other than the Board exercises the right to withdraw support conferred on the Board by this section, the existence of the licence shall not affect any liability of the Board in respect of damage caused in the exercise of that right (but without prejudice to any right of the Board to recover any expenditure from the licensee).

(8)Nothing in this section shall affect—

(a)any agreement binding on the Board immediately before the commencement of this Act, being an agreement made between the Board, the Coal Commission or a coal owner and a person interested in any land whereby the Board, the Coal Commission or the coal owner agreed not to work any coal or (as the case may be) any minerals or not to withdraw support from any land, or

(b)any provision contained, in a coal-mining lease which is binding on the Board immediately before the commencement of this Act and which prohibits the withdrawal of support from any land specified in the lease, or

(c)any restrictions* terms or conditions applicable to the working of any coal—

(i)by virtue of an agreement binding; on the Board and entered into after 1st July 1942 and before the commencement of this Act, or

(ii)by virtue of an order made, whether before or after the commencement of this Act under section 1 or section 7 of the [1966 c. 4.] Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Act 1966, or

(iii)by virtue of, or of any consent in relation to a restriction imposed by, section 33 of the [1938 c. 52.] Coal Act 1938.

(d)any such right as is referred to in section 34(1) of the Coal Act 1938 (statutory rights of the Crown, local authorities, statutory undertakers, and other persons to restrict the withdrawal of support etc.),

and in paragraph (a) above "coal owner" means the person in whom the fee simple in the coal in question was for the time being vested.

(9)Nothing in this section shall confer on the Board any right to withdraw support in connection with the working of coal or mines of coal comprised in the land specified in section 43(1) of the Coal Act 1938 (land in the Forest of Dean, etc. in which the privileges of free miners are exercisable).

(10)The following provisions of the Coal Act 1938 shall have effect as if the preceding provisions of this section and Schedule 1 to this Act were included in Part I of that Act, namely.—

(a)section 42 (application of Part I to Crown and Duchy land);

(b)section 44 (interpretation of Part I);

(c)section 45 (application of Part I to Scotland); and

(d)section 55 (service of notices etc.).