BRITISH COAST PROTECTION ACT OF 1949 



The purpose of the Coast Protection Act of 1949 is to amend the 

 law relating to the protection of the coast of Great Britain against 

 erosion and encroachment by the sea, to provide for the restriction 

 and removal of works detrimental to navigation, to transfer the 

 management of Crown foreshore from the Minister of Transport to the 

 Commissioners of Crown Lands, and for purposes connected with the 

 foregoing. The more important parts and sections of the act are 

 summarized in the following paragraphs. 



Part I 



Section 1. Coast protection authorities are established with 

 powers and duties in connection with protection of land in their 

 area as are conferred or imposed on such authorities by the act. 

 The council of each l&ritime county area shall be the coast pro- 

 tection authority for that area. 



Section 2. Coast protection boards may be established where 

 it appears expedient for the protection of land in any area. Such 

 boards shall be the coast protection authority for that area. 

 They shall consist of representatives of the council of every maritime 

 county area any part which is within the area for which the board 

 is constituted and may also include representatives of other af- 

 fected bodies or persons. 



Section 3. Any coast protection authority may concur with 

 any one or more other coast protection authorities in appointing 

 a joint committee of those authorities either for the aggregate 

 of the areas of the authorities or for any part thereof. 



Section 4« A coast protection authority is empowered to 

 carry out such coast protection work within or outside its area 

 as may appear to be necessary of expedient for the protection of 

 any land in its area. An authority may acquire any land required 

 for the purpose. 



Section 5. A coast protection authority proposing to carry 

 out any coast protection work, other than maintenance or repair, 

 shall publish notice of that proposal. Any person objecting to 

 the proposal shall be granted a hearing, after which decision will 

 be made by the Minister of Health as to approval, rejection or 

 modification of the proposal. Urgently needed protective work 

 may be carried out without publication of notice. 



Section 6. Where it appears to a coast protection authority 

 that persons interested in land to be protected should pay charges, 

 the authority may prepare a plan known as a "works scheme" which 

 shall indicate the nature and estimated cost of the proposed work. 



