§ 63. Sir B. Jannerasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps are being taken to bring to the notice of all those concerned with abstracting water from rivers that they must apply before 30th June to establish their claims for a licence of right; and what will be the position of those abstractors who fail to apply by that date.
§ Mr. MacCollThe Department and the river authorities have advertised in national, local and trade papers, and arranged for announcements on the radio. The trade organisations for the main water-using industries, including agriculture, have kept their members informed. Holders of licences under the Water Act, 1945, have been individually told of the coming into effect of the new system. In some areas river authorities have been able to identify and write to other abstractors of water. An explanatory leaflet aimed primarily at those abstractors who belong to no organisation has been distributed at agricultural shows, through the regional organisation of the Ministry of Agriculture, and through Chambers of Commerce.
49WAn abstractor failing to apply by 30th June would not be entried to a licence of right. But, provided he was otherwise entitled, my right hon. Friend would be disposed, if the case came to him on appeal, to secure that he was granted a licence to abstract the amount of water to which he would have been entitled had he applied for a licence of right in time.
Sir M. Stoddart-Scott asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government under what circumstances an application for a licence under the Water Resources Act, 1963, will be refused to a farmer in an area not previously restricted under the Water Act, 1945.
§ Mr. MacCollDecisions on applications for licences under the Water Resources Act are a matter for river authorities in the first place. They will refuse licences of right in areas not previously restricted if they are not satisfied that the applicants have, as they claim, been abstracting water during the five years preceding 1st April, 1965. Permissive licences may have to be refused if there is so little water that the grant of a licence might interfere with the protected rights of other abstractors or with the minimum acceptable flow in the stream concerned. Such licences will obviously be refused if there is an overriding need in the public interest to reserve available water for some other purpose. In the case of both licences of right and permissive licences an appeal against refusal may be made to my right hon. Friend.