Agricultural Land (Removal of Surface Soil) Act 1953 in Scotland

1 & 2 Eliz. 2 c. 10 · Enacted 6 May 1953 · Extends to England, Wales and Scotland

Not fully up to date. 1 change made by later legislation has not yet been written into this text, which is revised to 10 September 2025.

See the changes not yet applied

Provision	Change	Made by
s. 2(1)	words repealed	Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sch. 37 Pt. 9

An Act to make it an offence to remove surface soil from land in certain circumstances; and for purposes connected therewith.

[6th May 1953]C1 I1

Annotations to the whole text

Modifications

C1: Words of enactment omitted under authority of Statute Law Revision Act 1948 (c. 62), s. 3

Commencement

I1: Act wholly in force at 20.5.1953 see s. 5(4)

1Removal of surface soil without planning permission to be an offence against this Act.
3Consent of Attorney General or Director of Public Prosecutions required before prosecution.
4Application to Scotland.
5Short title, interpretation extent and commencement.

1Removal of surface soil without planning permission to be an offence against this Act.

(1)

If—

(a)

a person removes surface soil from agricultural land with a view to the sale of that soil, and

(b)

the removal of that soil constitutes development within the meaning of F1the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and is carried out without the grant of permission required in that behalf under Part III of that Act, and

(c)

the quantity of soil so removed in any period of three months amounts to more than five cubic yards,

he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

(2)

Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to the cutting of peat or to the removal of so much surface soil as it is reasonably necessary to remove in the course of cutting turf.

(3)

The reference in subsection (1) of this section to agricultural land shall include a reference to land the use of which for agriculture has been discontinued in consequence of the intention to remove surface soil from that land.

F2(4)

The reference in subsection (1) of this section to agricultural land does not include agricultural land in Wales.

3Consent of Attorney General or Director of Public Prosecutions required before prosecution.

No prosecution under this Act shall be brought in England or Wales save by or with the consent of the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions.

4Application to Scotland.F1

In the application of this Act to Scotland, for the references to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to Part III of that Act and to section 192 of that Act there shall be substituted references to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, to Part III of that Act and to section 151 of that Act.

5Short title, interpretation extent and commencement.

(1)

This Act may be cited as the M1Agricultural Land (Removal of Surface Soil) Act,1953.

(2)

In this Act the expressions “agriculture” and “agricultural” have the same meanings as in F1the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

(3)

This Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland.

(4)

This Act shall come into operation on the fourteenth day after the passing of this Act.