The MacRobert Trust Estate Private Water Supplies and the Private Water Supply Regulations
The MacRobert Trust • Grant giving charity • Owns a 7200 acre estate at Tarland on Deeside in Aberdeenshire • Run by Trustees; no remaining family • www.themacroberttrust.org.uk • My role: seconded from Strutt & Parker as the resident agent on The MacRobert Trust estate
Why I have been asked to make this presentation • Working with Aberdeenshire Council to resolve issues with estate private water supplies • 15 private water supplies on the Estate • The circumstances of which vary considerably • Difficulties in identifying how the Private Water Supply Regulations apply • In particular who is/are the relevant persons and the responsible persons in each instance
Summary of the Private Water Supplies on the the Trust Estate The MacRobert Trust Estate Private Water Supplies Supply Name Douneside Upper Upper West & Slack Ruthven Ruthven Davoch Boig Longfold Easttown Petts Alamein Hillhead Craskins Marview Braeside Cottage Woodfield Stonyford Lochmanse Bungalow Supply Water Rising on Trust Owned Properties 3 1 1 1 10 2 1 3 22 Trust owned land Sold Properties 16 2 13 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 39 Water Not Rising on Trust Owned Properties 29 1 30 Trust owned land Sold Properties 6 2 8 Total number or properties 19 1 3 35 1 23 1 2 1 1 1 3 1 4 1 2 9t9 Type A One Hotel and Scale Supply holiday Scale cottage
Relevant Pers0ns - legal definition Determination and notification of relevant person A local authority shall, in relation to each private water supply to any premises within its area, determine, for their respective interests, those persons who – (a) provide the supply; (b) occupy the land from, or on which, the supply is obtained or located; or (c) exercise powers of management or control in relation to the supply, and a person so determined shall, in these Regulations, be referred to as a “relevant person ”.
Relevant Person - provides the supply Who provides the supply?: • the owner of the land from which the water springs • the person who has a right to the spring sources • the person who owns the pipework and tanks that supply a range of properties • a person that used to own the tanks and pipes but has sold the land in which they lie but has retained rights to maintain, repair and renew the infrastructure and search for water if needed • a person with a property on the supply who has a right to maintain, repair and renew pipework outside the boundary of the property he owns
Relevant Person - occupies the land from, or on which, the supply is obtained or located What is the definition of the supply? No definition in the regulations. • is this the source of the water • is it the source, the tanks and the pipework; • at what point does the supply end, if at individual properties, does this imply that all users on the supply are relevant persons What are the implications if infrastructure is located in land in more than one ownership – in Scots law the owner, however defined, of one part of the system may not have rights over another part Who is the occupier – is this the owner of the land or is this a farm tenant who has a tenancy over the land in which tanks are located and through which water pipes run
Relevant Person - exercises powers of management or control in relation to the supply This is presumably the person who takes action to manage the supply - but this could often be by default - because it may be the party that has most to lose in terms of the properties on the supply An example from the Trust: • a supply that serves 19 properties of which 3 are owned by the Trust; a number of the other properties were owned by the Trust but have been sold; some of them have never been owned by the Trust • the Trust owns the land on which the sources are located and on which tanks and some of the pipework are located • another landowner has historic rights over the water supply system to maintain repair and renew infrastructure and search for additional sources because of past land ownership • other property owners on the supply have rights to water but also rights to maintain repair and renew pipework outwith their property boundaries • pipework runs through land not owned by the Trust and over which the Trust has no rights serving 10 properties none of which are owned by the Trust • in some cases the Trust has rights to recover some costs but has given no guarantee, in some deeds, about quality or quantity of water In such circumstances who is/are the relevant persons and is it right for the Trust just to be seen as the party exercising management?
Specific Example • 19 dwellings • 2 farms • 3 dwellings (including 2 farm houses) owned by the Trust • 16 other dwellings have rights to water • Pipes through land not owned by the Trust • A number of parties have rights over the system beyond the boundaries of their properties • How do you deal with a supply becoming a Type A because of the actions of one party on the supply? • What would be the Trust’s responsibility if it owned no properties on the system?
Comparison Compare a water supply to a road access: • An owner of a road is not responsible for the maintenance of a road that is used by third parties • Where a road owner does not need access over a road in his ownership it will be up to the users to maintain it • Where a road owner does take access over a road shared by others then he may organise repairs and maintenance but in agreement with other users about a share of the costs – normally according to levels of use • In both cases it is all the users that would be considered to be the “relevant” and “responsible” parties not just the owner of the road • In this analogy, the owner of the road (or the water supply) may be seen as the easy target for a Local Authority to identify for action that may need to be taken – but is that fair?
Responsible Person In the light of all the comments about the relevant person, who is the responsible person?: • The person who owns the sources • The person who owns land in which tanks and pipes are located (and there may be more than one on a system) • The person who has rights over the supply to maintain, repair and renew infrastructure and search for new sources • The person who exercises management – although this may be by default – although there may be a right to recover a share of costs • All these parties
Conclusion • The regulations have been laid on top of established legal practice and do not address/recognise the complexity of situations • In the light of this the identification of the relevant and responsible parties is very difficult • The main landowner/s may be seen by Local Authorities as the easiest party to address matters with but this does not mean that they are the only relevant or responsible parties • In the light of the issues raised in this presentation it may be that the Regulations need to be revisited to deal with some of the complexities
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