Public Utilities Road Works (Jersey) Law 1963

Jersey Law 7/1963 PUBLIC UTILITIES ROAD WORKS (JERSEY) LAW, 1963. ____________ A LAW to restrict the exercise of statutory powers to execute road works, and for purposes ancillary thereto, sanctioned by Order of Her Majesty in Council of the 11th day of APRIL, 1963. ____________ ( Registered on the 18 th day of May , 1963). ____________ STATES OF JERSEY. ____________ The 23rd day of October, 1962. ____________ T HE STATES , subject to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law: - ARTICLE 1 INTERPRETATION (1) In this Law, unless the context otherwise requires – “apparatus” includes any structure constructed for the lodging therein of apparatus; “emergency works” means works whose execution at the time when they are executed is requisite in order to put an end to, or to prevent the arising of, circumstances then existing or imminent which are calculated to cause danger to persons or property, interruption of a supply or service afforded by statutory undertakers, or substantial loss to statutory undertakers; and, in relation to works comprising items whereof some fall within the preceding provisions of this definition and others do not, includes only such of them as fall within those provisions and such others of them as cannot reasonably be severed therefrom ; “general notice” means a notice published by the highway authority in the Jersey Gazette; “highway authority” and “road” have the same meanings as in the Roads Administration (Jersey) Law, 1960; 1 “in”, in a context referring to works, apparatus or other property in a road, includes a reference to works, apparatus or other property under, over, across, along or upon it; “reinstatement and making good”, in relation to a road that has been opened or broken up, includes all such works as are requisite for securing that it does not remain open or broken up for any longer time than is reasonably necessary, and that its state during the period before it is permanently reinstated and made good is not such as is likely to cause danger; “road purposes” means the maintenance of a road, the widening of a road, the adjustment of the boundaries of a road and the doing of other works in respect of a road; “statutory power” means a power conferred by any enactment whether passed or coming into force before or after the passing of this Law; “statutory undertakers” means the authority, body or person by whom a statutory power to execute undertakers’ works is exercisable, in the capacity in which that power is vested in them; “telegraphic line” has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of the Telegraph Acts, 1863 to 1954 (of the United Kingdom) by virtue of the definition of that expression contained in section two of the Telegraph Act, 1878 (of the United Kingdom); “undertakers’ works” means works (including works executed or to be executed on behalf of the Crown) for any purposes other than road purposes, being works of any of the following kinds, that is to say – ( a ) placing apparatus; inspecting, maintaining, adjusting, repairing, altering or renewing apparatus; changing the position of apparatus or removing it; ( b ) breaking up or opening a road for the purposes of works mentioned in sub-paragraph ( a ) of this definition, and tunnelling or boring under a road for those purposes, breaking up or opening a sewer, drain or tunnel for those purposes, and other works requisite for or incidental to those purposes. (2) References in this Law to a service pipe or service line are to any such pipe or line as the following and to such only, that is to say – ( a ) a pipe or line through or by means of which a supply of gas or electricity is afforded or intended to be afforded to a consumer, either directly from premises from which the supply originates or from a main (that is to say, a pipe or line through or by means of which a supply thereof is afforded, or intended to be afforded, for the purposes of a general supply thereof); ( b ) a pipe or line through or by means of which sewerage services are afforded or intended to be afforded and which is a sewer within the meaning of the Sewerage (Amendment) (Jersey) Law, 1953; 2 ( c ) an underground telegraphic line placed or intended to be placed for the purposes of affording telegraphic communication to or from any premises, as distinguished from such a line placed or intended to be placed for general purposes of telegraphic communication: Provided that so much of any such pipe or line as is placed, or intended to be placed, for a continuous length of one hundred yards or more in a road shall be treated as not being a service pipe or service line. (3) References in this Law to any other enactment shall be construed as references thereto as amended and as including references thereto as extended or applied by or under any subsequent enactment or to any enactment repealing and re-enacting that other enactment with or without modification. ARTICLE 2 RESTRICTION ON BREAKING UP BY STATUTORY UNDERTAKERS OF ROADS RECENTLY CLOSED OR RE-SURFACED (1) Subject to the provisions of this Article, a statutory power of statutory undertakers to break up or open a road shall not be exercisable in the road – ( a ) during any period in which the use by vehicles of the carriageway is prohibited, or the width thereof available for vehicular traffic is reduced to less than two-thirds of its width, for the purposes of the execution of works for road purposes; or ( b ) during the execution of works of re-surfacing extending to one-third or more of the width of the carriageway; and during the twelve months following the completion of such works, if the following conditions are satisfied, that is to say – ( i ) that the highway authority had, after the passing of this Law, on two occasions by a general notice signified that the works relevant for the purposes of this Article were in prospect and had specified a date intended for beginning them, the first such occasion being not less than twelve months before the date so specified and the second such occasion being not more than three months before that date; (ii) that such works were substantially begun on, or within one month from, the date so specified or, if any undertakers’ works were in progress in the road on that date, within one month from the completion of those undertakers’ works or, in either case, within some extended period agreed between the highway authority and the statutory undertakers for the purposes of the operation of this paragraph in relation to the works for road purposes, or the re-surfacing works, as the case may be. (2) Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not apply to breaking up or opening for the purposes of emergency works. (3) Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not apply to breaking up or opening a part of the road other than the carriageway for the purposes of – ( a ) works relating only to a service pipe or service line or an overhead telegraphic line or an overhead electric line, but, in the case of a placing of a service pipe or a service line, only if it is for affording a supply or service to premises to which it is not already afforded; or ( b ) works required for satisfaction by statutory undertakers of an obligation of theirs created by an enactment, or created by an agreement made before the publication on the first occasion of the notice referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, which it is not reasonably practicable for them to satisfy without the breaking up or opening in question. (4) Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not apply to breaking up or opening done with the consent of the highway authority, and a consent for the purposes of this paragraph shall not be unreasonably withheld. ARTICLE 3 APPEALS Any person aggrieved by the refusal of the highway authority to grant consent under paragraph (4) of Article 2 of this Law may appeal to the Royal Court, either in or out of term, on the ground that it is in the public interest that such consent should be granted, and the Court may either confirm the refusal, or may direct the highway authority to grant consent and the highway authority shall comply with such direction. ARTICLE 4 OFFENCES If statutory undertakers break up or open a road in any case in which it is unlawful by virtue of paragraph (1) of Article 2 of this Law for them to do so – ( a ) they shall pay to the highway authority an amount equal to any cost reasonably incurred by the highway authority of reinstating and making good the road ; and ( b ) without prejudice to their liability under sub-paragraph ( a ) of this paragraph, they shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds: Provided that this sub-paragraph shall not bind the Crown. ARTICLE 5 NON-SATISFACTION OF STATUTORY OBLIGATION BECAUSE OF OPERATION OF LAW In so far as any failure of statutory undertakers to satisfy an obligation to which they are subject by virtue of any enactment is attributable to the prohibition by Article 2 of this Law of breaking up or opening for which the statutory undertakers have duly sought the consent of the highway authority and for which consent has been withheld, the failure shall not be treated as a contravention of that enactment. ARTICLE 6 REGULATIONS The States may make regulations amending the provisions of paragraph (1) of Article 2 of this Law by substituting for the period of twelve months mentioned therein either a longer or a shorter period, and by making any amendments consequential thereon: Provided that no regulations made under this paragraph shall have the effect of extending the period during which a statutory power is restricted by the said paragraph (1) consequent upon the publication of a notice under sub-paragraph ( i ) thereof prior to the passing of the regulations. ARTICLE 7 SHORT TITLE This Law may be cited as the Public Utilities Road Works (Jersey) Law, 1963. A.D. LE BROCQ, Deputy Greffier of the States. 1 Tome 1957–1960, page 555. 2 Tome 1951–1953, page 651.