Summary and Background Wales Section 310: Powers of National Assembly for Wales
801.This section amends the Government of Wales Act 2006 to confer legislative competence on the National Assembly for Wales. The section provides competence in relation to the establishment and maintenance of a route (or a number of routes) for the coast to enable the public to make recreational journeys. However, the section specifies that this does not include competence to create new highways by Assembly Measure or to enable journeys by mechanically propelled vehicles, except permitted journeys by qualifying invalid carriages. It also provides competence in relation to the securing of public access to relevant land for the purpose of open-air recreation. Land is relevant land if it:
802.The section provides that for the purposes of the section, the coast means the coast of Wales adjacent to the sea, including the coast of any island. It also provides that the sea includes the relevant upstream waters of a river, and that these are the waters from the seaward limit of the estuarial waters of the river upstream to the first bridge or tunnel by means of which the public have rights to cross the river on foot (“the public foot crossing”).