Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976
| Year | 1976 |
Local Government(Miscellaneous Provisions)Act 1976
1976 CHAPTER 57
An Act to make amendments for England and Wales of provisions of the law which relates to local authorities or highways and is commonly amended by local Acts; to alter certain supplemental provisions of the enactments relating to public health; to provide for certain powers of local authorities to execute works to be exercisable outside their areas; to provide for certain future local enactments and orders to have effect subject to certain other enactments; to amend section 126 of the Housing Act 1974; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[15 November 1976]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
General
Highways
1 Power to erect flagpoles etc on highways.
(1) Subject to the following subsection, a local authority may—
(a ) erect flagpoles, pylons and other structures on any highway in its area for the purpose of displaying decorations;
(b ) make slots in such a highway for the purpose of erecting the structures; and
(c ) remove any structure erected or slot made by the authority in pursuance of the preceding paragraphs;
and any structures or slots which may be erected or made by virtue of this subsection are hereafter in this section referred to as ‘relevant works’.
(2) A local authority shall not be entitled to exercise the powers conferred on it by the preceding subsection in respect of a highway for which it is not the highway authority except with the consent in writing of the highway authority for the highway, and shall not be entitled to exercise those powers in respect of so much of a highway as—
(a ) is carried by a bridge which a body other than the local authority and the highway authority has a duty to maintain; or
(b ) forms part of the approaches to such a bridge and is supported or protected by works or materials which a body other than the local authority and the highway authority has a duty to maintain,
except with the consent in writing of that body.
In this subsection ‘bridge’ includes a structure which carries a highway superimposed over a cutting.
(3) A highway authority or other body may give its consent in pursuance of the preceding subsection on such terms as it thinks fit (including in particular, without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this subsection, terms providing for the highway authority or body to remove any of the relevant works and reinstate the highway and to recover the reasonable cost of doing so from the local authority to which the consent was given).
(4) It shall be the duty of an authority by which relevant works are erected or made by virtue of the preceding provisions of this section—
(a ) to ensure that the works are erected or made so as to obstruct the highway in question as little as is reasonably possible, so as not to obscure or conflict with traffic signs connected with the highway and so as to interfere as little as is reasonably possible with the enjoyment of premises adjacent to the highway and with, and with access to, any apparatus in or on the highway which belongs to or is used or maintained by statutory undertakers; and
(b ) to ensure that while the works are retained they are properly maintained and, so far as it is necessary to light them to avoid danger to users of the highway, are properly lit; and
(c ) if the authority is not the highway authority for the highway, to indemnify the highway authority against any payments falling to be made by the highway authority in consequence of the works.
(5) A person who without lawful authority interferes with or removes any relevant works shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 50 or, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction under this subsection, not exceeding 100.
2 Control of scaffolding on highways.
(1) Subject to subsection (7) of this section no person shall, in connection with any building or demolition work or the alteration, repair, maintenance or cleaning of any building, erect or retain on or over a highway any scaffolding or other structure which obstructs the highway (hereafter in this section referred to as a ‘relevant structure’) unless he is authorised to do so by a licence in writing issued for the purposes of this section by the highway authority (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘a licence’) and complies with the terms of the licence; and a licence may contain such terms as the authority issuing it thinks fit.
(2) If a person applies to a highway authority for a licence in respect of any relevant structure and furnishes the authority with such particulars in connection with the structure as the authority reasonably demands, it shall be the duty of the authority to issue a licence to him in respect of the structure unless the authority considers—
(a ) that the structure would cause unreasonable obstruction of a highway; or
(b ) that a relevant structure erected otherwise than as proposed by the applicant would cause less obstruction of a highway than the structure proposed by him and could conveniently be used for the work in question.
(3) If on an application for a licence in connection with a highway the highway authority refuses to issue a licence or issues a licence containing terms to which the applicant objects, the applicant may appeal to a magistrates' court against the refusal or terms; and on such an appeal the court may—
(a ) in the case of an appeal against a refusal, direct the highway authority to issue a licence in pursuance of the application;
(b ) in the case of an appeal against the terms of the licence, alter the terms.
(4) Sections 273 to 275, 277 and 278 of the Highways Act 1959 (which contain supplementary provisions connected with appeals) shall have effect as if references in those sections to that Act included references to this section.
(5) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, it shall be the duty of a person to whom a licence is issued by a highway authority in respect of a relevant structure—
(a ) to ensure that the structure is adequately lit at all times between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise;
(b ) to comply with any directions given to him in writing by the authority with respect to the erection and maintenance of traffic signs in connection with the structure: and
(c ) to do such things in connection with the structure as any statutory undertakers reasonably request him to do for the purpose of protecting or giving access to any apparatus belonging to or used or maintained by the undertakers.
(6) A person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) of this section otherwise than by failing to comply with the terms of a licence or who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the terms of a licence or to perform a duty imposed on him by the preceding subsection shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 400.
(7) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section applies to a relevant structure erected before the coming into force of this section or erected or retained by the British Railways Board, the British Waterways Board or the London Transport Executive in the exercise of powers conferred on the body in question by any enactment; and nothing in paragraphs (a ) and (b ) of subsection (5) of this section applies to a relevant structure if no part of it is less than eighteen inches in a horizontal direction from a carriage-way of the relevant highway and no part of it over a footway of the relevant highway is less than eight feet in a vertical direction above the footway.
In this subsection ‘carriage-way’ and ‘footway’ have the same meanings as in the Highways Act 1959 .
(8) No civil or criminal proceedings shall he in respect of any obstruction of a highway which is caused by a relevant structure if the structure is on or over the highway in accordance with a licence and the person to whom the licence is issued performs the duties imposed on him in respect of the structure by subsection (5) of this section; and a highway authority by which a licence is issued shall not incur any liability by reason of the issue of the licence.
(9) Section 287 of the Highways Act 1959 (under which certain enactments relating to highways may be applied to Crown land) shall have effect as if the reference to that Act in subsection (2) included a reference to subsections (1) to (8) of this section.
3 Control of mixing of mortar etc on highways.
(1) Subject to the following subsection, a person who mixes or deposits on a highway any mortar or cement or any other substance which is likely to stick to the surface of the highway or which, if it enters drains or sewers connected with the highway, is likely to solidify in the drains or sewers shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 200.
(2) Nothing in the preceding subsection applies to any mixing or deposit—
(a ) in a receptacle or on a plate which prevents the substance in question from coming into contact with the highway and from entering any drains and sewers connected with the highway;
(b ) by the highway authority or a local authority in connection with the maintenance or...
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