Commentary on Sections Part 3 – Repeals of Welsh Legislation Part 1 – Rural Development Boards
121.The aim of Part 3 of the Agriculture Act 1967 (‘the 1967 Act’) was to promote the better use of hill lands and provided Ministers with powers to set up Rural Development Boards that could draw up programmes to deal with the “special problems … of rural areas of hills and uplands, and the special needs of such areas” (section 45(1)). Schedule 5 to the 1967 Act prescribes the mechanism for establishing such a Board and its constitution. The functions of establishing Rural Development Boards in relation to Wales now sit with the Welsh Ministers.
122.No Rural Development Boards have been established in relation to Wales under the 1967 Act.
123.Paragraph 1 of this Schedule to the Act amends the 1967 Act to disapply provisions in Part 3 of that Act in relation to Wales, including amending the relevant interpretation provisions to remove references to Wales that would no longer be required. Schedule 5 to the 1967 Act is introduced by section 45(5) of that Act. As it will no longer be possible to establish a Rural Development Board for an area in Wales, Schedule 5 will not apply in Wales.
124.The Act also makes consequential amendments to the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 and to Schedule 3A to the 2006 Act.