POWER OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO SURVEY LAND WHICH THEY PROPOSE TO ACQUIRE COMPULSORILY (Hansard, 10 May 1976)

§ Mr. Guy Barnett
I beg to move Amendment No. 20, in page 15, line 34, leave out ' seven ' and insert 'fourteen'

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Myer Galpern)
With this it may be convenient to discuss Government Amendment No. 23.

§ Mr. Barnett
The effect of the amendments is to increase both the minimum period of notice to be given to an occupier of the land before admission to the land can be demanded as of right and the minimum period of notice to be given before any apparatus is placed or left on the land from seven days to 14 days.
Again, this matter was debated in Committee. As a consequence of that debate and of the arguments advanced from the Opposition, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Wales gave an undertaking that we would look at this question again. It is a consequence of looking at it again that the Government have gone along with the original proposal made by the hon. Member for Ashford (Mr. Speed). Therefore, we hope that the hon. Gentleman is totally happy about this amendment.

§ Mr. Guy Barnett
I beg to move Amendment No. 21, in page 15, line 39, leave out
'which is the subject of the survey in question'.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this we are to take Government Amendment No. 22.

§ Mr. Barnett
This and the consequential amendment are drafting alterations. Subsections (1) and (2) give a local authority power to enter on "other land" for the purpose of surveying the land which it proposes to acquire compulsorily and to place, leave on, or remove apparatus from that land. The words which is the subject of the survey in question could be interpreted as limiting the requirement in subsection (3)(e) to give notice of the placing, leaving, or removing of apparatus from the land which was the subject of the survey. But notice should also be given if apparatus is to be placed on other land. By removing the qualifying words in line 39 and making a consequential amendment in line 40 this restriction is removed and it is made clear that notice must be given.

§ Mr. Guy Barnett
I beg to move Amendment No. 24, in page 16, line 7, at end insert: '(f) shall not search or bore on or in the land which is the subject of the survey in question if the land is held by relevant undertakers—

(i)unless notice of his intention to do so has been served by the local authority on the undertakers not less than fourteen days before he does so, and

(ii) if within that period the undertakers serve on the local authority a notice stating that they object to the searching or boring on the ground that to do so would be seriously detrimental to the carrying on of their undertaking, unless the Secretary of State authorises him in writing to do so;'

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this we are to take Government Amendment No. 25.

§ Mr. Barnett
The National Coal Board in particular has pointed out that in mining areas such searching or boring as might be undertaken by local authorities might have serious effects. Similar considerations apply to other relevant undertakers, and it is therefore right that they should be able to object to such operations on their land. There are equivalent provisions in Section 65(5) of the Highways Act 1971 and I hope that, in view of the position of statutory undertakers, the amendments will be acceptable.

§ Mr. Guy Barnett
I beg to move Amendment No. 26, in page 17, line 9, at end insert: '(9) A local authority which has power by virtue of section 64(1) of the Highways Act 1971, section 280(7) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 or paragraph 20(1) of Schedule 4 to the Community Land Act 1975 to authorise a person to survey or enter on any land as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall not be entitled by virtue of that subsection to authorise a person to survey or enter on the land.' 113 The effect of the amendment is to provide that the powers in the clause cannot be used where comparable powers of entry and survey are available under provisions in other Acts. The provisions concerned are sections of the Highway Act, of the Town and Country Planning Act and of the Community Land Act.
Where the other powers are available the existence of the general power in the clause is undesirable, because there are differences in the detail and scope of the various provisions related to the purposes for which they were intended and confusion could easily arise if these powers were to overlap with the powers in the clause. Landowners, for instance, should not be exposed to two powers of entry where one will suffice. The amendment therefore provides that the powers in Clause No. 14 cannot be used where these other powers are available.