98.— (1) Subject to subsection (2), any person authorised (however expressed) by any Act or instrument made under an Act to—

(a) navigate or use any river, canal, dock, harbour or river-basin, or

(b) charge a toll for such use,

may take up, divert or alter the level of any pipe which is—

(i) constructed by or vested in a water services authority or an authorised provider of water services, or a person providing water services jointly with or on behalf of a water services authority or an authorised provider of water services, and

(ii) passing under or interfering with such river, canal, dock, harbour or river-basin or any towing path thereof,

and, subject to complying with any statutory or contractual requirement and the giving of any due notice to any person concerned, the person so authorised may do all such things as may be necessary for carrying into effect such taking up, diversion or alteration.

(2) Any work carried out by a person pursuant to subsection (1) shall be at his or her own expense, and shall be subject to his or her substituting other equally effective pipes.

(3) Any person intending to carry out work under subsection (1) shall consult with the persons referred to in that subsection and the water services authority F76[…] before commencing the work, and shall agree with those persons and the water services authority as to what constitutes an “equally effective” substitution for the purposes of subsection (2) in that instance.

(4) Unresolved matters arising from consultations under subsection (3) may, at the sole discretion of the person intending to carry out the work, be referred to an agreed arbitrator or an arbitrator appointed by the President of the High Court, and any decision of that arbitrator taken at proceedings held in accordance with the Arbitration Acts 1954 to 1998 as to what constitutes “equally effective” for the purposes of subsection (2) in that instance shall be binding.