Mining Act 1978

Without limiting or otherwise affecting the powers conferred on a warden’s court by this Act, a warden’s court when considering matters relating to compensation under this Act, shall take into consideration —

any work that the person has carried out or undertakes to carry out to make good injury to the surface of the land or injury to anything on the surface of the land;

the amount of any compensation that the owner and occupier or either of them have or has already received in respect of the loss or damage for which compensation is being assessed, and shall deduct the amount already so received from the amount that they would otherwise be entitled to for such loss or damage.

Upon the hearing of a claim for compensation under section 123, an order may be made requiring the person by or on whose behalf the mining was authorised to restore, so far as is reasonably practicable, the surface of the land that was damaged thereby.

Before an order is made under subsection (2) consideration shall be given to the following matters —

the geographical location of the land to which the claim for compensation relates and its environment;

the purpose for which such land was used before the mining operations commenced and the purpose for which such land is likely to be used after the mining operations have ceased;

the cost to restore the surface of the land relative to the whole of the cost of and in relation to such mining operations and the profitability thereof;

the practicability of restoring the surface of the land after such mining operations have ceased.