Harbours Act, 1946

PART VIII.

Harbour Works Orders.

Harbour works order.

134.—(1) The Minister may, if and whenever he thinks fit, by order (in this Act referred to as a harbour works order)—

(a) authorise a harbour authority to construct, reconstruct, extend or remove within the period specified in the order such docks, graving docks, quays, wharves, jetties, piers, embankments, break-waters, roads, viaducts, tramways, railways, aerodromes or other works as may be specified in the order, or

(b) authorise a harbour authority to acquire compulsorily such land (including any right or easement in, over or in respect of land) as may be specified in the order,

or

(c) transfer to a local authority the harbour, or a specified part of the harbour, of a harbour authority, together with all the property, works, plant, equipment and chattels in connection therewith, and authorise the doing of all things necessary to give effect to such transfer, or

(d) transfer to a harbour authority a specified port or pier and the management and control thereof, or

(e) fix, or vary either by extension or diminution, the limits of the harbour of a harbour authority.

(2) The Minister may, if and whenever he thinks fit, by order (in this Act also referred to as a harbour works order) amend or revoke a harbour works order (including a harbour works order made under this subsection).

(3) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a harbour works order under paragraph (c) or (d) of subsection (1) of this section and a harbour works order under subsection (2) of this section consequent on a harbour works order made under the said paragraph (c) or (d):

(a) the order may be made by the Minister either on the application of the harbour authority to whom the order relates or without any such application,

(b) where the Minister makes the order without an application therefor having been made by the harbour authority to whom the order relates, it shall be the duty of that harbour authority to take all such steps as may be necessary or may be directed by the Minister for the purpose of implementing the order, and

(c) where the order is under the said paragraph (c) or under subsection (2) of this section consequent on a harbour works order made under the said paragraph (c), the order shall not be made save with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

(4) Save as provided by subsection (3) of this section, a harbour works order shall not be made otherwise than on the application of the harbour authority to whom the order relates.

(5) A harbour works order may include such supplemental and ancillary provisions and such conditions and restrictions as the Minister thinks proper.

(6) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (5) of this section, a harbour works order may—

(a) contain provisions for authorising, subject to the terms of the order, the opening, stopping up, breaking up, crossing, altering, extending, diverting or otherwise interfering with any public or private roads, highways, streets, footpaths, tunnels, streams, watercourses, railway-sidings, sewers, drains, pipes, wires or apparatus, and

(b) contain a condition that the harbour authority to whom the order relates shall not, in carrying out the provisions of the order, displace persons of the working class or shall displace such persons only after compliance with specified requirements.

(7) Where a harbour works order authorises or requires a harbour authority to acquire any land compulsorily, the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) the order shall, in respect of any land so acquired, provide for the payment of compensation by the harbour authority to the several persons having estates or interests in the land and shall provide that any question of disputed compensation shall be determined under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, as amended by the Acquisition of Land (Reference Committee) Act, 1925 (No. 22 of 1925);

(b) the order may incorporate all or any of the provisions of the Land Clauses Acts, with such modifications and adaptations as the Minister thinks proper.

(8) Subject to the provisions of the next following section, a harbour works order shall have statutory force and effect.