## SCHEDULE 11 

## Article 56 

## FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY 

1. —(1) The following provisions of this Schedule, unless otherwise agreed in writing between the Authority and the Agency, have effect. 

(2) In this Schedule— 

“the Agency” means the Environment Agency; 

“construction” includes execution, placing, altering, replacing, relaying and removal and “construct” and “constructed” are construed accordingly; 

“drainage work” means any watercourse and includes any land which provides or is expected to provide flood storage capacity for any watercourse and any bank, wall, embankment or other structure, or any appliance, constructed or used for land drainage, flood defence or tidal monitoring; 

“plans” includes sections, drawings, specifications and method statements; 

“specified work” means so much of any work or operation authorised by this Order as is in, on, under, over or within 9 metres of a drainage work or is otherwise likely to— 

(a) affect any drainage work or the volumetric rate of flow of water in or flowing to or from any drainage work; or 

(b) affect the flow, purity or quality of water in any watercourse or ground water; and 

“watercourse” includes all rivers, streams, ditches, drains, culverts, dykes, sluices, sewers and passages through which water flows (whether or not the flow is intermittent) except a public sewer or drain. 

2. —(1) Before beginning to construct any specified work, the Authority must submit to the Agency plans of the specified work and such further particulars available to it as the Agency may within 28 days of the submission of the plans reasonably require. 

(2) Any such specified work must not be constructed except in accordance with such plans as may be approved in writing by the Agency, or determined under paragraph 11. 

(3) Any approval of the Agency required under this paragraph— 

(a) must not be unreasonably withheld; 

(b) is deemed to have been given if it is neither given nor refused within 2 months of the submission of the plans for approval and, in the case of a refusal, accompanied by a statement of the grounds of refusal; and 

(c) may be given subject to such reasonable requirements as the Agency may make for the protection of any drainage work or for the protection of water resources, or for the prevention of flooding or pollution or in the discharge of its environmental duties. 

(4) The Agency must use its reasonable endeavours to respond to the submission of any plans before the expiration of the period mentioned in sub-paragraph (3)(b). 

3.  Without limitation on the scope of paragraph 2, the requirements which the Agency may make under that paragraph include conditions requiring the Authority at its own expense to construct such protective works, whether temporary or permanent, during the construction of the specified works (including the provision of flood banks, walls or embankments or other new works and the strengthening, repair or renewal of existing banks, walls or embankments) as are reasonably necessary— 

(a) to safeguard any drainage work against damage; or 

(b) to secure that its efficiency for flood defence purposes is not impaired and that the risk of flooding is not otherwise increased, 

by reason of any specified work. 

