HL Deb 20 June 1977 vol 384 cc402-3

3.5 p.m.

Report received.

Clause 1 [period for constructing roads]:

Lord AVEBURY moved Amendment No. 1: Page 1, line 8, after ("authorisation") insert ("or, if in the case of a trunk road there is no such authorisation, from the date of the approval of the Treasury thereto").

The noble Lord said: My Lords, I have been doing my best to meet the criticisms which have been expressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Stedman. This Amendment is designed to cope with the point which she raised first of all on Second Reading in col. 862. The noble Baroness referred to it again during the Committee stage. The point is that while motorways were covered by the original wording of the Bill, all-purpose trunk roads would not have been. The noble Baroness explained the difference between the two as being that in the case of a motorway a draft scheme is published under Section 11 of the Highways Act 1959, while for a trunk road there has to be an order which is made by the Secretary of State.

Having studied the matter, I am not at all clear why the expression "authorisation" should cover a scheme and not an order. However, I accept entirely that the noble Baroness will have been advised by her Department that that is the case. Therefore I have tabled this Amendment, by which the matter can be quite easily dealt with. Section 26 of the 1959 Act provides that the Secretary of State: …may, with the approval of the Treasury, construct new highways". So where there is no authorisation, we can start the clock, for the purposes of subsection (1), at the point of the Treasury having given approval. Therefore I beg to move Amendment No. 1.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Lord AVEBURY moved Amendment No. 2: Page 1, line 15, after ("authorisation") insert ("or approval").

The noble Lord said: My Lords, this is consequential on the previous Amendment. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Lord AVEBURY moved Amendment No. 3:

Page 1, line 18, at end insert— ("(4) For the purpose of subsection (1) above a road shall be deemed to have been begun when—

  1. (a) works of preparation of, or construction on, the land on which the road is to be built have commenced and at the time when such works were so commenced it was intended by the Secretary of State that such works would continue without interruption until the completion thereof; or
  2. (b) a contract has been entered into for that purpose.")

The noble Lord said: My Lords, so far as I can see, there is no definition of the word "begun" either in the Highways Act 1959 or in the Town and Country Planning Act. It was at the suggestion of the Council for the Protection of Rural England that we inserted the definition given in this Amendment with a view to making the matter as clear and specific as possible. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.