Weeds Act 1959
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1959 c. 54 |
| Year | 1959 |
Weeds Act , 1959
(7 & 8 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 54
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to injurious weeds.
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Power to require occupier to prevent spreading of injurious weeds.
(1) Where the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (in this Act referred to as ‘the Minister’) is satisfied that there are injurious weeds to which this Act applies growing upon any land he may serve upon the occupier of the land a notice in writing requiring him, within the time specified in the notice, to take such action as may be necessary to prevent the weeds from spreading.
(2) This Act applies to the following injurious weeds, that is to say—
spear thistle (cirsium vulgare (Savi) Ten.),
creeping or field thistle (cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.),
curled dock (rumex crispus L.),
broad-leaved dock (rumex obtusifolius L.), and
ragwort (senecio jacobaea L.);
and to such additional injurious weeds as may be prescribed by the Minister by regulations.
2 Penalty for failure to comply with requirement.
(1) Where a notice has been served under section one of this Act on the occupier of any land and that person unreasonably fails to comply with the requirements of the notice, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding seventy-five pounds or, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred and fifty pounds.
(2) If a failure in respect of which a person is convicted under the preceding subsection is not remedied within fourteen days after the conviction he shall be guilty of a further offence under that subsection and may be punished accordingly.
(3) Proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of this section shall not be instituted except by the Minister.
3 Default powers of Minister.
(1) Where a notice has been served under section one of this Act on the occupier of any land and the occupier has not taken the action required by the notice within the time specified therein, the Minister may take that action and recover a sum equal to the reasonable cost of so doing from the occupier or, if it is not practicable after reasonable enquiry to ascertain his name or address and he is not the owner of the land, from the owner.
(2) Where the Minister is entitled to recover a sum under the preceding subsection from the owner of land (whether or not he is also the occupier) and is unable after reasonable enquiry to ascertain the name or address of the owner he may apply to the High Court or, if the said sum does not exceed the amount by which the jurisdiction of the county court is limited by section forty-one of the County Courts Act, 1934, or any enactment re-enacting that section, to the county court, for an order imposing on the land a charge for securing the payment of that sum.
(3) A charge imposed under the last preceding subsection shall be a local land charge and shall be registrable under section fifteen of the Land Charges Act, 1925, accordingly; and the Minister shall, for the purpose of enforcing the charge, have the same powers and remedies under the Law of Property Act, 1925, and otherwise as he would have if he were a mortgagee by deed having powers of sale and lease, of accepting surrenders of leases, and of appointing a receiver.
(4) Where, by reason of the default of the occupier, the owner of any land has been required to pay any sum to the Minister under subsection (1) of this section or has, by reason of a charge imposed on the land under subsection (2) thereof, otherwise suffered loss he shall be entitled to recover the amount of his loss from the occupier.
4 Powers of entry.
(1) Any person authorised by the Minister in that behalf may, for the purpose of carrying this Act into effect, on the production, if so required, of his authority, enter on and inspect any land, so however that the occupier shall, in all such cases, be served with a notice of the date on which the inspection is to take place.
(2) If any person prevents or obstructs the entry for the purpose of this Act upon any land of any person authorised thereunder, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
5 Exercise of Minister's powers by local authority.
5. The Minister may authorise the council of any county or borough to exercise on his behalf any of the powers (other than the power to make regulations) conferred on him by this Act; and where a council is so authorised subsection (1) of section four of this Act shall have effect in relation to land in the county or borough in question as if the reference therein to a person authorised by the Minister included a...
To continue reading
Request your trial