29. Power of Fire Authority on default of owner---(1) If any eligible
landholder or owner to whom a notice is given under section 27 of this
Act fails or refuses to comply with the requirements of the notice
within the time specified therein or such further time as may be allowed
by a Mediator, the Fire Authority may carry out such work and do all
such acts, matters, and things as may be necessary to comply with those
requirements; and every eligible landholder or owner who so fails or
refuses commits an offence against this Act.
(2) All money reasonably expended by a Fire Authority under this
section, including all costs as defined in section 41 of this Act, shall
be payable to the Fire Authority by the eligible landholder or owner to
whom the notice was given and shall be recoverable as a debt in any
Court of competent jurisdiction accordingly. Until paid that money
shall, in accordance with and to the extent provided for by regulations
made under this Act, be a charge on the title or titles to the freehold
of the land to which the notice relates, in accordance with the
Statutory Land Charges Registration Act 1928, and may be registered
against the whole of that title or those titles accordingly.
(3) Every charge on land created by this section shall, save as
hereinafter provided, have priority over all existing mortgages, charges
and encumbrances howsoever created, including mortgages, charges, and
encumbrances in favour of the Crown. Notwithstanding anything in any
other enactment, if any land subject to a charge created by this Act is
also subject to a charge created by that other enactment, the charges
shall rank equally with each other unless by virtue of that other
enactment the charge created thereby would be deferred to the charge
created by this section.
(4) The exercise by the Fire Authority of the powers conferred by this
section shall not relieve any person from liability to any penalty for
failure to comply with the requirements of any notice under this Act.
Cf. 1955, No. 44, s. 26