Wildlife Act, 1976

Amendment of sections 9, 21, 22, 23 and 58 of Act of 1946.

63.—(1) (a) Section 9 of the Act of 1946 shall be construed as enabling the Minister—

(i) to acquire under that section land which is, or, as the case may be, rights over land which are, required by him either for the purposes of this Act or partly for such purposes and partly for purposes mentioned in subsection (1) (a) of that section,

(ii) to purchase or take on lease any buildings or works required in connection with his functions under this Act.

(b) The powers conferred on the Minister by section 9 of the Act of 1946 shall be construed as enabling the Minister to sell or let land acquired by the Minister by virtue of this section, or partly by virtue of this section and partly under the said section 9, or exchange any such land for any other land and (where requisite on any such exchange) pay or receive money for the equality of exchange or grant rights on or over any such land or in relation to buildings or works held by the Minister for the purposes of this Act or for the purposes both of this Act and of the Act of 1946.

(2) Where, in making an application under section 21 (1) of the Act of 1946, including any application under that section made by virtue of section 60 of this Act, the Minister requests the required right of way, if created, to be expressed as including and operating to confer on him the power to permit either the public generally or any particular section of the public, which for the time being is specified by the Minister in relation to the right of way, to pass and repass at all times or at such times as the Minister may permit, and with or without vehicles or animals as he may so specify, over the land over which the right of way will be exercisable, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) the Minister shall refer to the request in any notice served under paragraph (a) of the said section 21 (1), and

(b) if the Lay Commissioners in determining the application decide to allow the request in whole or in part, the order made on the application shall be so expressed and shall operate accordingly, and for the purposes of this section paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of the said section 21 shall be construed and have effect as if “together with the power to permit the public generally or any section of the public which is for the time being specified by the Minister in relation to the right of way to pass and repass, at all times or at such times as the Minister may permit and with or without vehicles or animals as he may specify, over the land over which the right of way is exercisable” were added to the paragraph.

(3) Section 22 of the Act of 1946 shall apply in relation to land which the Minister considers it desirable to acquire for the purposes of this Act or partly for those purposes and partly for the purposes of the Act of 1946 and section 23 of that Act shall apply in relation to land which the Minister desires to acquire for any of the purposes aforesaid in the same manner as it applies to land which the Minister desires to acquire for the purposes of the Act of 1946.

(4) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that subsections (2) to (16) of section 23 and sections 24 to 34 of the Act of 1946, as amended by section 6 of the Act of 1956, together with sections 4 and 5 of the Act of 1956, shall apply in relation to the acquisition by virtue of this section of land under subsection (1) of the said section 23.

(5) Section 58 of the Act of 1946 is hereby amended as follows:

(a) subsection (1) shall have effect as if the words “rabbits or”, wherever they occur, were deleted, and

(b) the following is hereby substituted for subsection (3):

“(3) Each of the following shall be vermin for the purposes of this section—

(a) any wild bird which is not a protected wild bird within the meaning of the Wildlife Act, 1976,

(b) any wild animal (other than a bird) which is not a protected wild animal within the meaning of that Act.”