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40 1936

AIR NAVIGATION AND TRANSPORT ACT, 1936

PART V.

Establishment and Maintenance of Aerodromes by the Minister for Industry and Commerce and Local Authorities, and Acquisition of Land, etc., for those purposes.

Extension of meaning of “the purposes of this Part of this Act”.

36. —The purposes of this Part of this Act for which land may be acquired by agreement or compulsorily shall include—

(a) the purpose of securing that the land adjacent to an aerodrome which the Minister or a local authority has established or is about to establish shall not be used in such manner as to cause interference with, or danger or damage to, aircraft at, approaching, or leaving the aerodrome; and

(b) the purposes of securing that trees; and buildings on the land adjacent to an aerodrome, which the Minister or a local authority has established or is about to establish, are, with the object of ensuring the safety of aircraft approaching or leaving the aerodrome, demolished.

Power of Minister and local authority to establish and maintain aerodromes.

37. —The Minister may and any local authority may, with the consent of the Minister given after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health and subject to such conditions as he may impose, establish and maintain aerodromes and provide and maintain in connection therewith roads, bridges, approaches, apparatus, equipment, and buildings and other accommodation.

Power of local authorities to carry on businesses in connection with aerodromes.

38. —(1) If the Minister is satisfied, with respect to any aerodrome maintained by a local authority under the immediately preceding section, that it is necessary or expedient that such local authority should be empowered to carry on in connection with such aerodrome any particular business, being a business which appears to him to be ancillary to the carrying on of an aerodrome, but which such local authority would not otherwise have power to carry on, he may by order authorise such local authority, subject to such conditions (if any) as may be specified in such order, to carry on that business in connection with such aerodrome.

(2) The Minister may by order under this sub-section revoke or amend an order made under this section, including this sub-section.

(3) The Minister shall before making an order under this section consult the Minister for Local Government and Public Health in regard thereto.

Right of entry on land by the Minister and local authorities.

39. —(1) Any person (in this section referred to as an authorised officer) authorised in that behalf by the Minister or a local authority may do either or both of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) enter on any land for the purpose of making thereon any inquiry, investigation, or examination preliminary or incidental to the acquisition of such land for the purposes of this Part of this Act;

(b) enter, for the purposes of making thereon surveys, on any land, which adjoins or is in the neighbourhood of land acquired or the acquisition of which is contemplated for the purposes of the said Part.

(2) If any person impedes or obstructs an authorised officer in the exercise of the powers conferred on such authorised officer by this section, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Acquisition by the Minister of land by agreement.

40. —The Minister may for the purposes of this Part of this Act acquire by agreement any land.

Compulsory acquisition of land, etc., by the Minister.

41. —(1) If and whenever the Minister thinks proper to acquire compulsorily any land or to acquire or use compulsorily any right of impounding, diverting, or abstracting water for the purposes of this Part of this Act, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, by order declare his intention so to acquire such land or so to acquire or use such right, and every such order shall operate to confer on the Minister full power to acquire compulsorily the land or to acquire or use compulsorily the right mentioned therein under and in accordance with this section.

(2) The Minister shall not make an order under this section in relation to any land covered by water, or which is foreshore, or in relation to any right of impounding, diverting, or abstracting water without previous consultation with the Minister for Agriculture.

(3) Before making an order under this section, the Minister—

(a) shall deposit and keep open for inspection at some suitable place (public notice of which shall be given) such plans, specifications, and other documents as will show fully and clearly the land or right intended to be acquired or used by virtue of the order;

(b) shall give notice, in such manner as he may consider best adapted for informing persons likely to be affected by the order, of his intention to consider the making thereof and of the manner in which representations and objections in respect of the order may be made, and

(c) shall, if he considers it expedient so to do, cause a public inquiry to be held in regard to the making of the order.

(4) An order made under this section may incorporate—

(a) the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, and

(b) the Land Clauses Acts so far as the same are not inconsistent with the said Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919.

(5) Nothing in this section shall authorise the Minister to acquire, use, or otherwise interfere with compulsorily under this section any land which at the date of the first publication of notice of the intention of the Minister to consider the making of a special order in that behalf belongs to any railway, electricity, gas, or water undertaker and is used or authorised to be used by such undertaker for the purpose of his undertaking.

(6) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to any public inquiry held under this section:—

(a) the Minister shall appoint a fit and proper person to hold such inquiry;

(b) such person is hereby authorised to administer oaths to persons appearing as witnesses at such inquiry;

(c) any person interested in the subject matter of such inquiry shall be entitled to appear personally or by counsel or solicitor and to adduce evidence.

Disposal of surplus land by the Minister.

42. —(1) The Minister may at any time dispose in such manner as he thinks proper of any land acquired by him under this Act which appears to him to be no longer required by him for the performance of his duties or the exercise of his functions under this Part of this Act.

(2) Any moneys received by the Minister in respect of the disposal of land under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

Acquisition of land by local authorities.

43. —(1) A local authority may, with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health given after consultation with the Minister, acquire land (either inside or outside the functional area of such local authority) for the purpose of this Part of this Act either by agreement or compulsorily under this Act and the Acts incorporated therewith.

(2) For the purpose of the acquisition of land by a local authority under this section, sections 203, 210, 212, 213, 214 and 215 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, as amended by section 8 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1896, and section 68 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925), shall apply as if those sections as so amended were herein re-enacted and made applicable to such local authority with and subject to the modifications made by this Act in the procedure under the said sections.

(3) A local authority may at any time, with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health given after consultation with the Minister, sell or let by public auction or private treaty in suitable lots any land acquired by such authority

Modification of procedure for acquisition of land.

44. —Where a local authority proposes to acquire (otherwise than by agreement) land for the purposes of this Part of this Act, whether in exercise of a power conferred by a statute other than this Act or of a power expressly conferred by this Act, the advertisements mentioned in sub-section (2) of section 203 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, may be published in any month and, in such case, the notices mentioned in the said sub-section shall be served in the month next succeeding the month in which the said advertisements are published.

Interference with right of navigation and other rights.

45. —(1) Whenever the Minister or a local authority establishes and maintains or is about to establish an aerodrome under this Part of this Act, and such aerodrome is or will be situated by the sea or any navigable inlet thereof, the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Agriculture may, if it is in his opinion in the public interest so to do, make an order under this section limiting or prohibiting the exercise of any right of navigation and any public or private right of fishing or landing fish or any other public or private right in respect of any part of the sea or any inlet thereof or foreshore in or adjacent to such aerodrome.

(2) Whenever an order made under the next preceding sub-section of this section limits or prohibits the exercise of any private right of fishing or landing fish or any other private right in respect of any part of the sea or any inlet thereof or foreshore, the Minister shall pay compensation to the owner of or other person entitled to exercise such right and such compensation shall, in default of agreement, be fixed under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919.

(3) Whenever any order made under this section is for the time being in force any right to which such order relates shall be limited or prohibited in accordance with such order.

Interference with public roads and bridges.

46. —The Minister may and any local authority may, with the consent of the Minister, compulsorily divert, close, remove or otherwise interfere with any public road or bridge.

Protection of public roads and bridges.

47. —If and whenever the execution of any works under this Part of this Act involves the diversion, removal, or other interference with any public road or bridge, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) where the execution of the works involves the closing of the road or bridge to traffic the Minister or the local authority (as the case may be) shall construct and shall maintain while such road or bridge is so closed to traffic a temporary road or bridge in the same or some other convenient situation sufficient to carry traffic of such quantity and character as normally uses such road or bridge;

(b) the Minister or the local authority (as the case may be) shall at or before the completion of the works either restore the road or bridge to its former condition or construct, after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, a new permanent road or bridge in the same or some other convenient situation sufficient to carry the like amount (in quantity and character) of traffic as the original road or bridge was able to carry and not substantially less convenient in gradient and curve than such original road or bridge;

(c) where a permanent new bridge is constructed by the Minister or by a local authority outside its own functional area, and such bridge confers substantially greater advantages on the public of the county or other borough, county, or urban district in which it is constructed, than the original bridge, by affording an improved means of communication or otherwise, the Minister shall certify the cost of such new bridge and the Minister for Local Government and Public Health shall certify what part of such cost in his opinion ought reasonably to be borne by the council of such county or other borough, county, or urban district, and thereupon a sum equal to the part so certified of such cost shall be raised by such council as part of the expenses of the maintenance of the road of which such new bridge is part and shall be paid by such council to the Minister or such local authority (as the case may be);

(d) if any doubt, dispute or question shall arise as to whether the Minister or a local authority in the construction, maintenance or restoration of any temporary or permanent road or bridge pursuant to this section has complied with the provisions of this section, or as to whether a permanent new bridge constructed by the Minister or by a local authority outside its own functional area confers substantially greater advantages on the public of the county or other borough, county, or urban district in which it is constructed than the original bridge, such doubt, dispute or question shall be decided by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whose decision shall be conclusive and final.

Contributions by a local authority or conservancy or harbour authority to local authority maintaining an aerodrome and provisions in relation to management of such aerodrome by a joint committee.

48. —(1) Where a local authority (in this section referred to as an undertaking authority) has established and maintains or proposes to establish and maintain an aerodrome under this Part of this Act, any authority (in this section referred to as a non-undertaking authority) which is another local authority, a conservancy authority, or a harbour authority, may agree with such undertaking authority to make to such undertaking authority, on such conditions as may be agreed upon between the two authorities and subject to the provisions of this section, a contribution towards the expenses incurred by such undertaking authority in or in relation to the establishment and maintenance of such aerodrome.

(2) An agreement under this section in relation to an aerodrome may be made by two or more non-undertaking authorities with an undertaking authority.

(3) An agreement under this section made between one or more non-undertaking authorities and an undertaking authority may incorporate a scheme for the management of the aerodrome to which the agreement relates through and by a committee of such undertaking authority, and in that case such scheme shall, where there is only one non-undertaking authority party to such agreement, provide that a specified number of the members of such committee shall be nominated by that non-undertaking authority or, where there are two or more non-undertaking authorities party to such agreement, provide that a number of such members specified in respect of each non-undertaking authority shall be nominated by such non-undertaking authority, and such scheme may empower such committee to do any act (including the institution of legal proceedings) in relation to the management of such aerodrome which such undertaking authority itself could lawfully do, and may provide for the application of the provisions of section 58 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925) to such committee as if such committee were a county authority within the meaning of that section, and for the furnishing by such undertaking authority to such committee of the moneys necessary to meet their expenses.

(4) The contribution payable by a non-undertaking authority in pursuance of an agreement made under this section shall be either a fixed annual sum or a fixed proportion of the expenses of maintaining the aerodrome to which the agreement relates or partly one and partly the other and shall be payable in such instalments and at such times as shall be set out in the agreement.

(5) No agreement made under this section shall come into force unless and until it has been sanctioned by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

(6) When an agreement made under this section between one or more non-undertaking authorities and an undertaking authority comes into force it shall be binding on and enforceable against each party to such agreement, and each such party and the committee of management (if any) shall have power to do all acts and to make all payments which are provided for in such agreement or in any scheme incorporated therewith.

Borrowing by local authorities.

49. —(1) The council of a county may borrow under Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred by such council under this Part of this Act in like manner as if such purpose were mentioned in that Article and money borrowed for any such purpose shall not be reckoned as part of the debt of such council for the purposes of any limitation on borrowing imposed by the said Article.

(2) Any local authority (other than the council of a county) may borrow under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931, for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred by such local authority under this Part of this Act as if such purpose were a purpose for which such local authority is authorised to borrow under those Acts, but money borrowed for any such purpose shall not be reckoned as part of the debt of such local authority for the purposes of any limitation on borrowing imposed by those Acts.

(3) Loans may, for the purposes of this section, be made out of the Local Loans Fund to a local authority.

Expenses of local authorities.

50. —All expenses incurred by a local authority under this Part of this Act shall be defrayed—

(a) in the case of the council of a county, by means of the poor rate raised equally over the whole of their county (exclusive of any borough or urban district included therein the council of which has made or is making contributions under the said Part in respect of an aerodrome established or about to be established in such county or in a county borough contiguous to such county);

(b) in the case of the councils of the county boroughs of Cork and Waterford, the council of a borough (other than a county borough or the borough of Dun Laoghaire) or the council of an urban district, out of any rate or fund applicable for the purposes of the Public Health (Ireland) Acts, 1878 to 1931, in like manner as if they had been incurred for the purposes of those Acts.

Expenses of conservancy and harbour authorities.

51. —All expenses incurred by a conservancy authority or a harbour authority under this Part of this Act shall be defrayed by such authority in the like manner in which other expenses of such authority are defrayed.

Appointment of officers by local authorities.

52. —Any local authority may, subject to the provisions of any enactment relating to the appointment of officers by such local authority, appoint such and so many officers as it shall think requisite for the execution of the powers conferred on it by this Part of this Act, and every officer so appointed shall be paid such remuneration as such local authority shall, with the consent of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, determine.

Provisions in relation to land belonging to the State.

53. —(1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting the granting, under any Act passed (whether before or after the passing of this Act) by the Oireachtas, of a lease or licence, in respect of any land which is State land and to which such Act applies, to the Minister or a local authority or the acceptance of such lease or licence by the Minister or a local authority.

(2) The Minister may for the purposes of this Part of this Act by order enclose any State land in respect of which he is authorised by law to grant leases and licences and any such State land may be used by the Minister for any purpose for which land acquired by him under this Part of this Act may be used.

(3) In this section the expression “State land” means land which for the time being belongs to Saorstát Eireann either by virtue of Article 11 of the Constitution or by any other means (present or future) whatsoever.

Saving of rights, etc., of Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

54. —Nothing in this Act shall deprive the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs of any rights and remedies under the Telegraph Acts, 1863 to 1928, or any statutory adaptation thereof or substitution therefor made by or under the authority of the Oireachtas.