Explanatory note

This Order applies the provisions of Part I of the Transport and Works Act 1992 (“the Act”) (which provides for the making of orders authorising the construction and operation of certain systems of transport and of inland waterways and the carrying out of works which interfere with rights of navigation in waters within or adjacent to England and Wales up to the seaward limits of the territorial sea) to those works which interfere with rights of navigation of a description prescribed in the Order.

The works so prescribed are barrages, bridges, cables, land reclamation, navigational aids, offshore installations, piers, pipelines, tunnels and utilities structures. A more detailed description of each of these terms appears in article 3 of the Order. Authority for the carrying out of some of these works may be secured under other enactments and section 13(2) of the Act provides that in such circumstances the Secretary of State may determine not to make an order applied for under the Act in respect of those works. The scope of the Order is further constrained by section 3(2) of the Act, which prevents the Secretary of State from making an order under the Act if the primary object of the order could be achieved by means of an order under the Harbours Act 1964 (c. 40).