HC Deb 08 July 1946 vol 425 cc171-2
Mr. Ivor Thomas

I beg to move, in page 17, line 6, at the end, to insert: (3) No person shall, in the exercise of a power conferred by any such order, enter upon land which is occupied, unless, not less than seven days before the day upon which the entry is made, there has been served upon the occupier of the land a notice stating that an entry will be made upon the land upon that day in the exercise of powers conferred by the order, and specifying the purposes for which the entry will be made: Provided that nothing in this subsection shall restrict the right of any person to enter upon land in a case of emergency or for the purpose of performing any functions which are required to he performed from time to time in connection with the maintenance or use of any works structures or apparatus. This Amendment has the same purpose as the two which precede it on the Order Paper with the names of the hon. Members opposite. It was pointed out in Committee by hon. Gentlemen opposite that it would be reasonable to have notice of entry upon land. On our side of the Committee, we pointed out that it was necessary to carry out routine work of maintenance and to enter on the land in an emergency—for instance to mend a leaking pipe, or put a radar beacon right—without any notice, and that it would be impracticable to have seven days' notice for such entry. We have reached a compromise in the Amendment which we think will be satisfactory. It means that for routine entry and emergency there may he entry without notice, but in other cases of entry there shall be seven days' notice.

Mr. Turton

As the Minister has said, this is a satisfactory compromise. I wish we could have reached it earlier on the Committee stage when our Amendments were proposed. It would have saved a certain amount of time. I wish to thank the Minister for it.

Amendment agreed to.