Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board Byelaws
The UPPER WITHAM Internal Drainage Board under and by virtue of the powers and
authority vested in them by section 66 of the Land Drainage Act 1991, do hereby make the
following Byelaws which are considered necessary for securing the efficient working of
the drainage system in their District:-
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Commencement of Byelaws
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These Byelaws shall come into operation at the expiration of one
month beginning with the day on which they are confirmed by the Minister. Return to top of page
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Application of Byelaws
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These Byelaws shall have effect within the District; |
| the watercourses referred to in these Byelaws (5 to 8
and 10 to 22) are watercourses which are for the time
being vested in or under the control of the Board. |
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Control of Introduction of Water and Increase in Flow or
Volume of Water
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No person shall, without the previous consent of the Board, for any
purpose, by means of any channel, siphon, pipeline or sluice or by any
other means whatsoever, introduce any water into the District or, whether
directly or indirectly, increase the flow or volume of water in any
watercourse in the District. Return to top of page
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Control of Sluices, etc
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Any person having control of any sluice, slacker, floodgate, lock, weir,
dam, pump, pumping machinery or other structure or appliance for
introducing water into any watercourse in the District or for controlling
or regulating or affecting the flow of water in, into or out of any
watercourse shall use and maintain such sluice, slacker, floodgate, lock,
weir, dam, pump, pumping machinery, structure or appliance in accordance
with such reasonable directions as may from time to time be given by the
Board with a view to the prevention of flooding or any shortage in the
flow or supply of water and to the efficient working of the drainage
system in the District. Return to top of page
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Fishing Nets and Angling
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| No person shall angle or set any nets or
engines for the catching or keeping of fish in
any watercourse in such a manner as to cause
damage to or endanger the stability of the bank
of the watercourse or to affect or impede the
flow of water.
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| In this Byelaw "nets" includes:-
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| a stake net, bag net or keep net; |
| any net secured by anchors and any net, or other
implement for taking fish, fixed to the soil or
made stationary in any other way;
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| any net placed or suspended in any inland or tidal
waters unattended by the owner or a person duly
authorised by the owner to use it for fish, and
any engine, device, machine or contrivance,
whether floating or otherwise, for placing or
suspending such a net or maintaining it in working
order or making it stationary.
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Diversion or Stopping up of Watercourses
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No person shall, without the previous consent of the Board, take
any action, or knowingly permit or aid or abet any person to take
any action to stop up any watercourse or divert or impede or
alter the level of or direction of the flow of water in, into or
out of any watercourse. Return to top of page
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Detrimental Substances not to be Put into Watercourses
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| No person shall, so as directly or
indirectly to obstruct, impede or interfere with
the flow of water in, into or out of any
watercourse or so as to damage the bank:-
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| discharge or put or cause or permit to be discharged
or put or negligently or wilfully cause or permit
to fall into any watercourse any object or matter
of any kind whatsoever whether solid or liquid;
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| allow any such object or matter as is referred to in
sub-paragraph (a) of this Byelaw to remain in
proximity to any watercourse in such manner as to
render the same liable to drift or fall or be
carried into any watercourse.
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| Provided that nothing in this Byelaw shall
be deemed to render unlawful the growing or
harvesting of crops in accordance with normal
agricultural practice. Return to top of page
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Lighting of Fires
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No person shall light or cause or permit to be lighted or commit
any action liable to cause to be lighted any fire on any land
adjoining the watercourse where such action is liable to set on
fire the peat land forming the banks of the watercourse or any
trees, willows, shrubs, weeds, grasses or any other vegetable
growths growing on land forming the banks of the watercourse. Return to top of page
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Notice to Cut Vegetable Growths
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Any person having control of any watercourse shall, upon the
receipt of a notice served on him by the Board requiring him so
to do, cut down and keep cut down all trees, willows, shrubs,
weeds, grasses, reeds, rushes or other vegetable growths growing
in or on the bank of a watercourse, within such reasonable time
as may be specified in the notice, and shall remove such trees,
willows, shrubs, weeds, grasses, reeds, rushes or other vegetable
growth from the watercourse immediately after the cutting thereof.
Provided that, where a hedge is growing on the bank of a
watercourse, nothing in this Byelaw shall require more than the
pruning of the hedge so as to prevent it from growing over or
into the watercourse, and the removal of the resultant cuttings. Return to top of page
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No Obstructions within 6 Metres of the Edge of the Watercourse
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No person without the previous consent of the Board shall erect
any building or structure, whether temporary or permanent, or
plant any tree, shrub, willow or other similar growth within 6
metres of the landward toe of the bank where there is an
embankment or wall or within 6 metres of the top of the batter
where there is no embankment or wall, or where the watercourse is
enclosed within 6 metres of the enclosing structure. Return to top of page
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Repairs to Buildings
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| The owner of any building or structure in
or over a watercourse or on the banks thereof
shall, upon receipt of a notice from the Board
that because of its state of disrepair:-
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| the building or structure is causing or is in
imminent danger of causing an obstruction to the
flow of the watercourse, or
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| the building or structure is causing or is in
imminent danger of causing damage to the bank of
the watercourse,
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| carry out such reasonable and practicable
works as are specified in the notice for the
purpose of remedying or preventing the
obstruction or damage as the case may be within
such reasonable time as is specified in the
notice.
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Control of Vermin
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The occupier of any bank of a watercourse or any part thereof
shall, upon being required by the Board by notice, within such
reasonable time as may therein be specified, take such steps as
are specified in the notice, being such steps as the Board
consider necessary and practicable for preventing the bank from
becoming infested by rabbits, rats, coypu, foxes and moles or any
other wild mammal not being an animal listed in Schedule 5 or
Schedule 6 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, but
excluding the water vole from such control. Return to top of page
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Damage by Animals to Banks
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All persons using or causing or permitting to be used any bank of
any watercourse for the purpose of grazing or keeping any animal
thereon shall take such steps including fencing as are necessary
and reasonably practicable and shall comply with such reasonable
directions as may from time to time be given by the Board to
prevent the bank or the channel of the watercourse from being
damaged by such use.
Provided that nothing in this Byelaw shall be deemed to affect or prevent the
use of, for the purpose of enabling animals to drink at it, any
place made or to be made or constructed as approved by the Board. Return to top of page
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Vehicles not to be Driven on Banks
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No person shall use or drive or permit or cause to be used or
driven any cart, vehicle or implement of any kind whatsoever on,
over or along any bank of a watercourse in such manner as to
cause damage to such bank. Return to top of page
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Banks not to be Used for Storage
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No person shall use or cause or permit to be used any bank of any
watercourse for the purpose of depositing or stacking or storing
or keeping any rubbish or goods or any material or things thereon
in such a manner as by reason of the weight, volume or nature of
such rubbish, goods, material or things causes or is likely to
cause damage to or endanger the stability of the bank or channel
of the watercourse or interfere with the operations or access of
the Board or the right of the Board to deposit spoil on the bank
of the watercourse. Return to top of page
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Not to Dredge or Raise Gravel, Sand etc
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No person shall without the previous consent of the Board dredge
or raise or take or cause or permit to be dredged or raised or
taken any gravel, sand, ballast, clay or other material from the
bed or bank of any watercourse. Return to top of page
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Fences, Excavations, Pipes etc
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No person shall without the previous
consent of the Board:-
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| place or affix or cause or permit to be placed or
affixed any gas or water main or any pipe or
appliance whatsoever or any electrical main or
cable or wire in or over any watercourse or in,
over or through any bank of any watercourse;
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| cut, pare, damage or remove or cause or permit to be
cut, pared, damaged or removed any turf forming
part of any bank of any watercourse, or dig for
or remove or cause or permit to be dug for or
removed any stone, gravel, clay, earth, timber or
other material whatsoever forming part of any
bank of any watercourse or do or cause or permit
to be done anything in, to or upon such bank or
any land adjoining such bank of such a nature as
to cause damage to or endanger the stability of
the bank;
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| make or cut or cause or permit to be made or cut any
excavation or any tunnel or any drain, culvert or
other passage for water in, into or out of any
watercourse or in or through any bank of any
watercourse;
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| erect or construct or cause or permit to be erected
or constructed any fence, post, pylon, wall,
wharf, jetty, pier, quay, bridge, loading stage,
piling, groyne, revetment or any other building
or structure whatsoever in, over or across any
watercourse or in or on any bank thereof;
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| place or fix or cause or permit to be placed or fixed
any engine or mechanical contrivance whatsoever in,
under or over any watercourse or in, over or on any bank
of any watercourse in such a manner or for such length of
time as to cause damage to the watercourse or banks
thereof or obstruct the flow of water in, into or out of
such watercourse.
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| Provided that this Byelaw shall not apply
to any temporary work executed in an emergency
but a person executing any work so expected shall,
as soon as practicable, inform the Board in
writing of the execution and of the circumstances
in which it was executed and comply with any
reasonable directions the Board may give with
regard thereto.
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Interference with Sluices
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No person shall without lawful authority interfere with any
sluice, slacker, floodgate, lock, weir, dam, pump, pumping
machinery or any other structure or appliance for controlling or
regulating the flow of water in, into or out of a watercourse. Return to top of page
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Mooring of Vessels
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No person shall moor or place any vessel in any watercourse or to
or upon the bank of any watercourse in such manner or by such
method as to cause or be likely to cause injury to such bank or
in such manner as materially to obstruct or impede the free flow
of water in, into or out of any watercourse. Return to top of page
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Unattended Vessels
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No person shall leave any vessel unattended without taking due
care to prevent such vessel from materially obstructing or
impeding the free flow of water in, into or out of any
watercourse or any sluice in any bank. Return to top of page
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Removal of Sunken Vessels
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No person who is the owner of a vessel sunk, stranded, damaged or
adrift in a watercourse or, in the case of a sunken vessel which
is abandoned, who was the owner immediately before the
abandonment shall, after ten days from the day on which the Board
serves on him notice in writing that the vessel is causing
obstruction, permit the vessel to remain in the watercourse in
such a manner as to impede or harmfully divert the flow of water
in, into or out of the watercourse. Return to top of page
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Navigation of Vessels
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| No person shall navigate any vessels in
such a manner or at such a speed as to injure the
bank of any watercourse and where the Board have
by notice erected at any place limited the speed
of vessels passing such place no person shall
navigate a vessel at a speed over the bed of the
watercourse greater than the speed so limited.
Provided that the Board shall not exercise their
powers under this Byelaw so as to limit the speed
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| vessels in any tidal waters except after consultation
with the Department of the Environment, Transport
and the Regions
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| vessels navigating waterways of the British Waterways
Board for which speed limits are prescribed by the
Byelaws of such Board.
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Damage to Property of the Board
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No person shall interfere with or damage any bank, bridge,
building, structure, appliance or other property of or under the
control of the Board. Return to top of page
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Defacement of Notice Boards
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No person shall deface or remove any notice board, notice or
placard put up by the Board. Return to top of page
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Obstruction of the Board and Officers
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No person shall obstruct or interfere with any member, officer,
agent or servant of the Board exercising any of his functions
under the Act or these Byelaws. Return to top of page
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Savings for Other Bodies
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| Nothing in these Byelaws shall:-
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| conflict with or interfere with the operation of any
Byelaw made by the Environment Agency or of any
navigation, harbour or conservancy authority but
no person shall be liable to more than one penalty
or in the case of a continuing offence more than
one daily penalty in respect of the same offence;
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| restrict, prevent, interfere with or prejudice the exercise of any statutory rights or powers
which are now or hereafter may be vested in or exercised by:-
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any public utility undertaking carried on by a local authority under any Act or under any Order having the
force of an Act;
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the undertakings of the Environment Agency and of any water undertaker or sewerage undertaker;
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any public gas transporter within the meaning of Part I of the Gas Act 1986;
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any navigation, harbour or conservancy authority;
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any person who acts as the operator of a relevant railway asset with respect to the construction, use or
maintenance and repair of any such asset or the free, uninterrupted and safe use of any such asset and
the traffic (including passengers) thereon;
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any local authority;
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any highway authority for the purposes of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended by any subsequent enactment)
in relation to any highway whether or not maintainable at public expense;
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any undertaking engaged in the operation of a telecommunications system;
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a relevant airport operator within the meaning of Part V of the Airports Act 1986;
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the Civil Aviation Authority and any subsidiary thereof;
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the British Waterways Board;
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the Coal Authority;
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| restrict, prevent, interfere with or prejudice any
right of a highway authority to introduce into
any watercourse surface water from a highway, for
which it is the highway authority;
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| restrict, prevent, interfere with or prejudice any
right of a licence holder within the meaning of
Part I of the Electricity Act 1989 to do anything
authorised by that licence or anything reasonably
necessary for that purpose;
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| affect any liability arising otherwise than under or
by reason of these Byelaws.
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Saving for Crown Lands
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Nothing in these Byelaws shall operate to prevent the removal of
any substance on, in or under (or the erection of any structure,
building or machinery or any cable, wire or pipe on, over or under)
lands belonging to Her Majesty in the right of the Crown by any
person thereunto authorised by the Crown Estate Commissioners. Return to top of page
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Arbitration
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| Where by or under Byelaws 4, 9, 11, 12, 13 or 17 any
person is required by a notice in writing given
by the Board to do any work to the satisfaction
of the Board or to comply with any directions of
the Board, he may within 21 days after the service
of such notice on him give to the Board a
counter-notice in writing objecting to either the
reasonableness of or the necessity for such
requirement or directions, and in default of
agreement between such person and the Board the
dispute shall, when the person upon whom such
notice was served is a drainage or local
authority be referred to the Minister whose
decision shall be final, and in any other case
shall be referred to the arbitration of a single
arbitrator to be appointed in default of
agreement by the President of the Institution of
Civil Engineers on the application of either
party. Where such a counter-notice has been
given to the Board the operation of the notice
shall be suspended until either agreement has
been reached or the dispute has been determined
by arbitration in accordance with the provisions
of this Byelaw;
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| where by or under these Byelaws any person is required
by a notice in writing given by the Board to do
any work to the satisfaction of the Board or to
comply with any directions of the Board and any
dispute subsequently arises as to whether such
work has been executed or such directions have
been complied with, such dispute if it arises
between a drainage authority or local authority
and the Board shall be referred to the Minister
whose decision shall be final, and in any other
case shall be referred to the arbitration of a
single arbitrator to be appointed in default of
agreement by the President of the Institution of
Civil Engineers on the application of either party;
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| where by or under Byelaws 3, 6, 10, 16 or 17 any
person is required to refrain from doing any act without
the consent of the Board, such consent shall not be
unreasonably withheld and may be either unconditional or
subject to such reasonable conditions as the Board may
consider appropriate and where any dispute arises as to
whether in such a case the consent of the Board is being
unreasonably withheld, or as to whether any conditions
subject to which consent is granted are unreasonable,
such disputes shall if it arises between a drainage
authority or local authority and the Board be referred to
the Minister whose decision shall be final, and in any
other case such dispute shall be referred to the
arbitration of a single arbitrator to be appointed in
default of agreement by the President of the Institution
of Civil Engineers on the application of either party.
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Notices
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Notices and any other documents required or authorised to be
served or given under or by virtue of these Byelaws shall be
served or given in the manner prescribed by section 71 of the Act. Return to top of page
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Limitation
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| Nothing in these Byelaws shall authorise the Board to
require any person to do any act, the doing of
which is not necessary for securing the efficient
working of the drainage system of the District or
to refrain from doing any act, the doing of which
does not adversely affect the efficient working
of the drainage system of the District.
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| If any conflict arises between these Byelaws and
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the Land Drainage Act 1994 (which relates to the Board's duties with respect to the environment), or
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the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc) Regulations 1994
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the said Act and the said Regulations shall prevail.
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Revocation
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The Byelaws made by the Board on the 14th day of September 1965
are hereby revoked. Return to top of page
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Interpretation
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In these Byelaws, unless the context otherwise requires, the
following expressions shall have the meaning hereby respectively
assigned to them, that is to say:-
"the Act" means the Land Drainage Act 1991;
"Animal" includes any horse, cattle, sheep, deer, goat, swine,
goose or poultry;
"Bank" includes any bank, cross bank, wall or embankment
adjoining or confining or constructed for the purpose of or in
connection with any watercourse and includes all land between the
bank and the low water mark or level of the water in the
watercourse as the case may be and where there is no such bank,
cross bank, wall or embankment includes the top edge of the
batter enclosing the watercourse;
"Board" means the Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board;
"Consent of the Board" means the consent of the Board in writing
signed by the Clerk for the time being of the Board or other duly
authorised officer;
"District" means the area under the jurisdiction of the Board;
"The Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food;
"Occupier" means in the case of land not occupied by any tenant
or other person the person entitled to the occupation thereof;
"Owner" includes the person defined as such in the Public Health
Act 1936;
"Relevant Railway Assset" means
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a network which was transferred, by
virtue of a transfer scheme made under
section 85 of the Railways Act 1993, from
the British Railways Board and vested in
the company formed and registered under
the Companies Act 1985 and known, at the
date of vesting, as Railtrack PLC,
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a station which is operated in connection
with the provision of railway services on
such a network,
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or
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a light maintenance depot,
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Expressions used in this definition and in the Railways Act 1993
have the same meaning in this definition as they have in that
Act, and a network such as is described in (a) above shall not
cease to be such a network where it is modified by virtue of
having any network added to it or removed from it.
"Vessel" includes any ship, hovercraft (as defined by the
Hovercraft Act 1968), lighter, keel, barge, tug, launch,
houseboat, pleasure or other boat, aircraft, randan, wherry,
skiff, dinghy, shallop, punt, yacht, canoe, raft, float of timber
or any other craft whatsoever, and howsoever worked, navigated or
propelled;
and other expressions shall have the same meanings as in the Act. Return to top of page
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By section 66(6) of the Land Drainage Act 1991 every person who
acts in contravention of or fails to comply with any of the
foregoing Byelaws is liable on summary conviction in respect of
each offence to a fine not exceeding the amount prescribed from
time to time for level 5 on the standard scale referred to in
section 37 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 and a further fine
not exceeding Forty pounds for every day on which the
contravention or failure is continued after conviction. By
section 66(7) of the Act if any person acts in contravention of
or fails to comply with any of these Byelaws the Board may
without prejudice to any proceedings under section 66(6) of the
Act take such action as may be necessary to remedy the effect of
the contravention or failure and may recover the expenses
reasonably incurred by it in doing so from the person in default.
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THE COMMON SEAL OF THE UPPER WITHAM INTERNAL DRAINAGE BOARD
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was hereunto affixed on the Twenty First day of September 1998
in the presence of:-
i) Chairman - R.W. Parker
ii) Clerk - M.J. Tomlinson
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