Forestry Act (Northern Ireland) 1953
1953 Chapter 2
An Act for the advancement of forestry and for purposes connected with that matter.
1Responsibility of Ministry for forestry in Northern Ireland.
F2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2Powers of Ministry, subject to approval of Ministry of Finance.
F3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3Further powers of Ministry.
F4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ss. 4‐8 rep. by 1984 NI 2
9Destruction of rabbits, hares or deer.
F5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10Prevention of damage caused by rabbits and vermin.
F6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11Burning of vegetation.
F7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12Removal or destruction of vegetation on land adjoining woods.
F8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13Identification of trees.
Any person authorised by the Ministry may take such steps, whether by marking or otherwise, as the Ministry may consider necessary for identifying trees for the purposes of any of the functions of the Ministry under this Act.
14Forest parks.
F91
The Ministry may with the consent of the Ministry of Finance by regulation declare that any land owned by the Ministry shall
be treated as a Northern Ireland forest park (in this section referred to as “a forest park”
) [F10 or as a Northern Ireland forest recreation area (in this section referred to as “a forest recreation area”
)], and thereupon the public shall have access to that land subject to and in accordance with such byelaws as may be made
under this section.
F101A
Sub-section (1) shall apply to land held by the Department under a lease in like manner as it applies to land owned by the
Department but nothing in this section shall authorise anything which is contrary to the provisions of the lease.
1B
For the purpose of improving the amenity of land acquired by the Department under this Act or under any other enactment or
otherwise, the Department may provide on that land such facilities as it considers desirable for such improvement and, without
prejudice to the generality of this power, such facilities may include—
a
parking places, caravan parks, camping sites, shelters and lavatories;
b
meals and refreshment;
c
viewing points for the public, open spaces, footpaths and bridlepaths;
d
the planting of trees to enhance the landscape;
e
the provision of nature trails, arboreta, wildlife enclosures, interpretative centres, forest conservation areas, scenic drives;
and such other recreational, conservational and educational facilities as the Department considers appropriate.
1C
The Department may, with the approval of the Department of Finance, impose such charges on persons entering all or any of
the forest parks or forest recreation areas or making use of any facility provided as it considers reasonable.]
2
The Ministry may make byelaws—
a
prescribing the times during which the public shall have access to forest parks [F10 or forest recreation areas];
b
making such provision as may appear to the Ministry to be necessary for the preservation of trees or timber in forest parks
[F10 or forest recreation areas];
c
prohibiting or regulating any act or thing tending to injury or disfigurement of forest parks [F10 or forest recreation areas] or the amenities thereof;
d
without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this sub-section, providing for the reasonable use of forest
parks [F10 or forest recreation areas] by the public for the purposes of exercise and recreation.
3
The Ministry may authorise persons appointed or employed by the Ministry to exercise such powers and perform such duties as
the Ministry may consider necessary for the enforcement of byelaws made under this section, and in particular any person so
authorised may after due warning remove or exclude from any forest park [F10 or forest recreation area] a person who commits, or whom he reasonably suspects of committing, an offence against any byelaw
made under this section or against the section which, by virtue of sub-section (1) of section fifty-seven of the Summary Jurisdiction
and Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland), 1935 [1935 c.13] , was substituted for section four of the Vagrancy Act, 1824 [1824 c.83] .
4
A person who commits an offence against any byelaw made under this section, or who obstructs any person authorised in accordance
with sub-section (3) of this section, shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction
thereof to a fine not exceedingF11 level 3 on the standard scale and, for a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding [F12 £2] in respect of each day during which the offence continues.
15Financial provisions.
F13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16Power of entry on land.
F14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17Miscellaneous offences.
F15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18Notices.
F16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19Regulations.
F17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20Interpretation.
F18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
S. 21 rep. by SLR 1973
22Short title.
1
This Act may be cited as the Forestry Act (Northern Ireland), 1953.
Subs. (2) rep. by SLR 1973
Schedule rep. by SLR 1973
Act repealed (prosp.) by Forestry Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 (c. 10), ss. 38(3), 39(1), Sch. 2 (with s. 37) and the repeal being partly in operation, as to which see individual provisions