| "Penalty for non-compliance with notice under section 179A. |
179B. - (1) Where a notice has been served under section 179A, and any owner of the hedge on whom the notice was served fails to take steps required by the notice within the period specified in it for compliance with it, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
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(2) Where proceedings have been brought under subsection (1) against a person as the owner of the hedge, and he has, at some time before the end of the compliance period, ceased to be the owner, if he-
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(a) duly lays information to that effect, and |
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(b) gives the prosecution not less than three clear days' notice of his intention, |
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he shall be entitled to have the person who then became the owner brought before the court in the proceedings.
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(3) Where proceedings have been brought under subsection (1) against a person as the occupier of the land, and he has, at some time before the end of the compliance period, ceased to be the occupier, if he-
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(a) duly lays information to that effect, and |
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(b) gives the prosecution not less than three clear days' notice of his intention, |
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he shall be entitled to have brought before the court in the proceedings the person who then became the occupier of the land or, if nobody then became the occupier, the person who is the owner at the date of the notice.
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(4) Where in proceedings under this section-
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(a) it has been proved that any steps required by the notice under section 179A have not been taken within the compliance period, and |
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(b) the original defendant proves that the failure to take those steps was attributable, in whole or part, to the default of a person specified in a notice under subsection (2) or (3), |
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then-
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(i) that person may be convicted of the offence; and
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(ii) if the original defendant also proves that he took all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the notice, he shall be acquitted of the offence.
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(5) If, after a person has been convicted under the previous provisions of this section, he does not as soon as practicable do everything in his power to secure compliance with the notice, he shall be guilty of a further offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one tenth of level 3 on the standard scale for each day following his first conviction on which any of the requirements of the notice remain unfulfilled.
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(6) Any reference in this section and in section 181A to the compliance period, in relation to a notice under section 179A, is a reference to the period specified in the notice for compliance with it, or such extended period as the planning authority who served the notice may allow for compliance.".
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