Legalize / United Kingdom / Wales / Act of Senedd Cymru

Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Act 2025

Type Act of Senedd Cymru

Publication 2025-09-11

State In force

Jurisdiction Wales

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

PART 1 — THE DISUSED TIPS AUTHORITY FOR WALES

Establishment and exercise of functions

The Disused Tips Authority for Wales

1

(1) The Disused Tips Authority for Wales is established as a body corporate.

(2) In this Act, references to “the Authority” are to that body.

(3) Schedule 1 makes further provision about the Authority.

The Authority’s exercise of its functions

2

(1) The‍ Authority must exercise its functions under this Act with a view to ensuring that disused tips do not threaten human welfare by reason of their instability.

(2) In exercising its functions under this Act, the Authority must also promote high standards in relation to the management of disused tips and threats to their stability.

General functions

Information, advice and assistance

3

(1) The Authority must give the Welsh Ministers such information, advice or assistance as they may require in connection with any matter relevant to the exercise of their functions under this Act or any of their other functions.

(2) The Authority may, of its own initiative, give the Welsh Ministers information, advice or assistance in connection with any matter relevant to the exercise of their functions under this Act or any of their other functions.

(3) The Authority may give any person other than the Welsh Ministers information or advice on, or assistance with, any matter relating to a particular disused tip or to disused tips generally.

(4) The Authority may charge a fee for the provision of information, advice or assistance under subsection (3).

(5) In this section, “assistance” includes carrying out operations on land.

Financial assistance

4

(1) The Authority may, with the consent of the Welsh Ministers, give financial assistance to any person in respect of relevant expenditure.

(2) In subsection (1), “relevant expenditure” means expenditure incurred or to be incurred by the person on anything which the Authority considers conducive to the attainment of its main objective.

(3) Financial assistance may be given under subsection (1)—

(a) by grant or loan;

(b) subject to conditions.

Ancillary powers

5

(1) The Authority may do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or which is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of its functions.

(2) But the Authority may not borrow money from any person other than the Welsh Ministers.

PART 2 — ASSESSMENT, REGISTRATION AND MONITORING OF DISUSED TIPS

CHAPTER 1 — REGISTER OF DISUSED TIPS

The register

Duty to compile and maintain register

6

(1) The Authority must compile and maintain an electronic register of disused tips that the Authority decides—

(a) pose a threat to human welfare by reason of instability, or

(b) could pose such a threat in the event of instability.

(2) Chapter 3 sets out the process for including disused tips in the register or removing them from it.

(3) In this Part, references to “the register” are to the register referred to in subsection (1).

The criteria for registration

7

For the purposes of this Part, the criteria for registering a disused tip are that the tip—

(a) poses a threat to human welfare by reason of instability, or

(b) could pose such a threat in the event of instability.

Content of the register

8

(1) An entry in the register for a disused tip must include—

(a) a map showing the area of the tip, and

(b) the information described in subsection (2).

(2) The information is—

(a) the name or names by which the tip is commonly known (if any);

(b) the location of the tip;

(d) the tip’s category (see Chapter 4);

(e) the date of the most recent inspection of the tip (if any);

(f) any additional information specified by regulations made by the Welsh Ministers.

(3) The Welsh Ministers must consult the Authority before making regulations under subsection (2)(f).

(4) A change to the map showing the area of a disused tip or a change to a tip’s category may only be made in accordance with Chapter 5.

Public access to the register

9

The Authority must‍ publish the maps and information in the register, other than any information specified by regulations under section 8(2)(f).

Monitoring registered tips

Duty to monitor registered tips

10

(1) The Authority must monitor the stability, and threats to the stability, of each disused tip in the register.

(2) In order to perform its duty under subsection (1) ‍in relation to a tip which is a category 1 tip, the Authority—

(a) must inspect the tip within 6 months of the tip being recorded in the register as a category 1 tip, and

(b) must then inspect the tip—

(i) twice within the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the inspection required by paragraph (a) is completed, and

(ii) twice within each subsequent period of 12 months.

(3) In order to perform its duty under subsection (1) in relation to a tip which is a category 2 tip, the Authority—

(a) must inspect the tip within 12 months of the tip being recorded in the register as a category 2 tip, and

(b) must then inspect the tip—

(i) once within the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the inspection required by paragraph (a) is completed, and

(ii) once within each subsequent period of 12 months.

(4) The Authority may carry out any other monitoring activities (including additional inspections) that it considers appropriate in relation to a tip which is a category 1 tip or a category 2 tip.

(5) In order to perform its duty under subsection (1) in relation to a tip which is a category 3 tip or a category 4 tip, the Authority may carry out any inspections or other monitoring activities that it considers appropriate.

(6) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations amend subsection (2) or (3)—

(a) to change any period referred to for the time being in those subsections as the period within which an inspection or inspections (as the case may be) must be carried out;

(b) to change, in relation to any such period, the number of inspections which the Authority is required to carry out.

CHAPTER 2 — ASSESSMENT OF DISUSED TIPS

General

Overview

11

This Chapter makes provision for the assessment of disused tips; in particular, it requires the Authority to carry out—

(a) a preliminary assessment of disused tips not in the register, to identify those tips that may need to be included in it;

(b) a full assessment of those tips identified by a preliminary assessment as ones that may need to be included in the register;

Preliminary assessment

Meaning of “preliminary assessment”

12

In this Chapter, “preliminary assessment” means an assessment of whether it appears that the criteria for registering a disused tip may be met.

Full assessment of unregistered tip

13

(1) The Authority must—

(a) carry out a preliminary assessment in relation to every disused tip, and

(b) produce‍ and publish a report of each assessment.

(2) The Authority may publish a report under subsection (1)(b) in a redacted form if the Authority considers it necessary to do so in order to avoid disclosing information contrary to any prohibition imposed by an enactment or other rule of law.

(3) The Authority must prepare a programme which sets out its proposed approach to, and proposed timetable for, carrying out the preliminary assessments required by this section.

(4) The Authority must send the programme to the Welsh Ministers for approval before the end of 12 months beginning with the coming into force of this section.

(5) The Welsh Ministers may approve the programme with or without modifications.

(6) The Authority must publish the programme as approved by the Welsh Ministers as soon as practicable.

(7) The Authority may revise the published programme with the approval of the Welsh Ministers.

(8) If the Authority revises the published programme, it must publish it in its revised form as soon as practicable after making the revision.

(9) In complying with subsection (1), the Authority must have regard to the most recent programme published by it under this section.

Notice of intention to carry out full assessment

14

(1) This section applies where a preliminary assessment has been carried out under this Chapter in relation to a disused tip that is not in the register, but the Authority considers that an additional preliminary assessment ought to be carried out in relation to the tip—

(a) because of a change in circumstances, or

(b) because information is available that was not taken into account when the previous assessment was carried out.

(2) The Authority must, as soon as practicable—

(a) carry out an additional preliminary assessment in relation to the tip, and

(b) produce‍ and publish a report of‍ the assessment.

(3) The Authority may publish a report under subsection (2)(b) in a redacted form if the Authority considers it necessary to do so in order to avoid disclosing information contrary to any prohibition imposed by an enactment or other rule of law.

Full assessment

Meaning of “full assessment”

15

In this Chapter, “full assessment”, in relation to a disused tip, means an assessment of—

(a) the stability of the tip;

(b) matters affecting or with the potential to affect the stability of the tip (including any interdependencies between the tip and any other disused tip);

(d) whether the criteria for registration are met.

Full assessment of unregistered tip

16

(1) If, on the basis of a preliminary assessment under this Chapter, it appears to the Authority that the criteria for registering a disused tip may be met in relation to a disused tip that is not in the register, the Authority must—

(a) carry out a full assessment in relation to the tip, and

(b) produce‍ and publish a report of‍ the assessment.

(2) The Authority may publish a report under subsection (1)(b) in a redacted form if the Authority considers it necessary to do so in order to avoid disclosing information contrary to any prohibition imposed by an enactment or other rule of law.

Full assessment of registered tip

17

(1) This section applies where the Authority considers that an additional full assessment ought to be carried out in relation a disused tip already in the register—

(a) because of a change in circumstances, or

(b) because information is available that was not taken into account when a full assessment was last carried out in relation to the tip.

(2) The Authority must, as soon as practicable—

(a) carry out an additional full assessment in relation to the tip, and

(b) produce‍ and publish a report of‍ the assessment.

(3) The Authority may publish a report under subsection (2)(b) in a redacted form if the Authority considers it necessary to do so in order to avoid disclosing information contrary to any prohibition imposed by an enactment or other rule of law.

Notice of intention to carry out full assessment

18

(1) Before carrying out a full assessment in relation to a disused tip, the Authority must give a notice to every owner and every occupier of land to which access is required for the purposes of the assessment.

(2) The notice must—

(a) state that the Authority has arranged a full assessment in relation to the tip;‍

(b) explain that access to the land may be needed to carry out the assessment;

(c) specify the date on which access to the land may be needed (which must not be less than 14 days after the date on which the notice is given);

(d) state that the Authority may, unless the land is Crown land, apply for a warrant to enter the land under section 67 if access is refused.

Notice of conclusions of full assessment

19

Where the Authority produces a report of a full assessment in relation to a disused tip, it must, as soon as practicable, give notice of the conclusions of the report to every owner and every occupier of the land on which the tip is situated.

CHAPTER 3 — REGISTERING AND DEREGISTERING DISUSED TIPS

Proposal to register tip

20

(1) This section applies where a report of a full assessment under section 16 concludes that the criteria for registering a disused tip are met.

(2) The Authority must, as soon as practicable, give notice that it proposes to include the tip in the register (a “notice of proposed registration”) to—

(a) every owner and every occupier of the land on which the tip is situated, and

(b) any other person who, to the Authority’s knowledge, has an estate or interest in that land otherwise than as a mortgagee.

(3) A notice of proposed registration must—

(a) identify the disused tip;

(b) include a map showing the area of the tip;

(d) specify the category the Authority is proposing for the tip and its reasons for the proposal;

(e) specify the period for making representations to the Authority about the proposal, which must be a period of at least 30 days beginning with the day after the day on which the notice is given;

(f) explain how a person may make representations.

(4) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations amend subsection (3)(e) to change the minimum period for making representations, but the amended period must not be less than 14 days.

Decision on registration

21

(1) This section applies where the period for making representations about a proposal to include a disused tip in the register has ended.

(2) The Authority must, as soon as practicable, decide whether it is satisfied that the criteria for registering the tip are met.

(3) In making its decision, the Authority must have regard to—

(a) the conclusions of the report of the full assessment mentioned in section 20, and

(b) any representations made about the proposal by a person who was given the notice of proposed registration.

(4) The Authority may also have regard to any other information it considers relevant.

(5) Where the Authority decides that the criteria for registration are met, it must include the tip in the register as soon as practicable.

(6) The Authority may register a disused tip otherwise than in accordance with the proposal in the notice of proposed registration if it considers it appropriate to do so.

(7) The Authority must give notice of a decision under this section (a “decision notice”) to—

(a) every owner and every occupier of the land on which the disused tip is situated,

(b) any other person who, to the Authority’s knowledge, has an estate or interest in that land otherwise than as a mortgagee, and

(8) A decision notice must—

(a) identify the disused tip;

(b) include a map showing the area of the tip;

(d) if the tip has been included in the register—

(i) specify the date on which tip was added to the register,

(ii) specify the tip’s category, and

(iii) where the tip has been registered otherwise than in accordance with the notice of proposed registration, explain any differences and the reasons for the differences.

Proposal to remove tip from register

22

(1) This section applies where a report of a full assessment under section 17 concludes that the criteria for registration are no longer met in relation to a disused tip in the register.

(2) The Authority must, as soon as practicable, give notice that it proposes to remove the tip from the register (a “notice of proposed deregistration”) to—

(a) every owner and every occupier of the land on which the tip is situated, and

(b) any other person who, to the Authority’s knowledge, has an estate or interest in that land otherwise than as a mortgagee.

(3) A notice of proposed deregistration must—

(a) identify the disused tip;

(b) include a map showing the area of the tip;

(d) specify the period for making representations to the Authority about the proposal, which must be a period of at least 30 days beginning with the day after the day on which the notice is given;

(e) explain how a person may make representations.

(4) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations amend subsection (3)(d) to change the minimum period for making representations, but the amended period must not be less than 14 days.

Decision on removal of tip from register

23

(1) This section applies where the period for making representations about a proposal to remove a disused tip from the register has ended.

(2) The Authority must, as soon as practicable, decide whether it is satisfied that the criteria for registration are no longer met in relation to the tip.

(3) In making its decision, the Authority must have regard to—

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