View extract of Act
See also
main Consents Page and Make
an Application for CPA Consent
Laying of subsea cables and pipelines Exemptions from control
Under Section 34 of the Coast Protection Act 1949 (as amended principally by Section 36 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988) the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is required for the following operations:
the construction, alteration or improvement of any works on, under or over any part of the seashore lying below the level of mean high water springs;
Controls under Section 34 normally apply anywhere within the limit of territorial waters. However, the Continental Shelf Act 1964 extends the controls in respect of the first and third bullets above to any part of the seabed in designated areas outside the territorial waters.Section 34 of the Act imposes restrictions on works which may be detrimental to the safety of navigation. However, the introduction of environmental regulations (see Conservation Regulations & Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations) extended Section 34 in some circumstances such that account must additionally be taken of potential environmental effects.
The Act does not apply to works in non-tidal inland waters and other exemptions are provided under Section 35 of the Act, including certain works that have been authorised under local Acts or by Order under the Trasnport & Works Act. An amendment applied by virtue of the Energy Act 2004 disapplies Section 34 of the Coast Protection Act in respect of certain offshore energy generation activities.
It is the applicant's own responsibility to satisfy himself that he has power to undertake the tidal works concerned and that any other necessary consents are obtained before work is commenced. The issue of a Section 34 consent does no more than indicate that, to the extent the works may represent an obstruction or danger to navigation, they may be undertaken in accordance with any conditions laid down in the Secretary of State's consent to minimise that obstruction or danger.
Section 36 of the Act sets out the powers of the Secretary of State or a harbour Authority to enforce the provisions of section 34 and to take any necessary remedial action. A consent under the CPA Part II is normally valid for a period of three years. However, so that applicants may elect to make a joint application for works that also require a FEPA licence, the duration of a consent may be amended so as to bring the expiry dates of both consents (where issued) into alignment.
