299.Section 75 makes amendments to the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969 (“the 1969 Act”). These amendments are made in consequence of the establishment of a new regime under this Act for managing threats that disused tips may pose to human welfare by reason of their instability.
300.The main effect of the amendments is to remove the functions that Part 2 of the 1969 Act placed on local authorities in Wales for the purpose of ensuring that disused tips do not constitute a danger to members of the public. Functions relating to the oversight of disused tips in Wales will now fall, instead, to the Authority. The amendments to the 1969 Act do not impact the application of the 1969 Act to local authorities in England or Scotland, in relation to whom the current position is preserved.
301.There are a small number of disused tips that straddle the border between England and Wales. The Authority will have functions in relation to those tips under this Act, and the relevant local authorities in England will have functions in relation to those tips under the 1969 Act. The functions of the Authority, and of the English local authorities, will be exercisable in relation to those cross-border tips in their entirety (not just the parts of those tips that fall within the respective geographical areas). The powers of the Authority in the Act could also be exercised in relation to land in England for the purpose of dealing with threats to the stability of a tip situated wholly in Wales, for example, where the only threat to a tip’s stability exists on the English side of the border.
302.Section 5 confers power on the Authority to do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or which is conducive or incidental to, to the exercise of its functions. In respect of a cross-border tip, the Authority could potentially rely on this power to co-operate with English local authorities where such co-operation is conducive to the exercise of the Authority’s functions.
Commentary on Sections Miscellaneous Section 75 – Amendments to the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969