Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) (Scotland) Act 1947
| Year | 1947 |
Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) (Scotland)Act , 1947.
(10 & 11 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 42.
An Act to re-enact in the form in which they apply to Scotland the provisions of the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946.
[31st July 1947]
Be it enacted by the King'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:—
1 Procedure for compulsory purchase of land by local authorities, and by the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Civil Aviation and the Secretary of State for certain purposes.
(1) The authorisation of any compulsory purchase of land—
(a ) by a local authority where, apart from this Act, power to authorise the authority to purchase land compulsorily is conferred by or under any enactment contained in a public general Act and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, other than any enactment specified in subsection (4) of this section;
(b ) by the Minister of Transport under section eleven of the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act, 1909 , or that section as applied by section three of the Roads Improvement Act, 1925 , or under section thirteen of the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act, 1935 , as applied by section four of the Trunk Roads Act, 1936 , or by section five of the Trunk Roads Act, 1946 , or under section twenty-eight of the Civil Aviation Act, 1946 ;
(c ) by the Minister of Civil Aviation under section twenty-six of the Civil Aviation Act, 1946 ;
(d ) by the Secretary of State under section fifty-seven of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947;
shall, subject to the provisions of this and the next following section, be conferred by an order (in this Act referred to as a ‘compulsory purchase order’) in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act.
(2) The purchase, in a case falling within the last foregoing subsection, of land—
(a ) which is the property of a local authority or which has been acquired by statutory undertakers for the purposes of their undertaking,
(b ) forming part of a common or open space or held inalienably by the National Trust for Scotland, or
(c ) being, or being the site of, an ancient monument or other object of archaeological interest,
shall be subject to the special provisions of Part III of the said First Schedule.
(3) In relation to any compulsory purchase to which the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act apply, the Lands Clauses Acts and other enactments mentioned in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Act shall be incorporated in accordance with the provisions of the said Part I; and the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919 , shall have effect in relation to any such compulsory purchase subject to the provisions of Part II of that Schedule.
(4) The enactments excepted from the operation of subsection (1) of this section are any enactment contained in—
(a ) the Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act, 1855 ;
(b ) the Allotments (Scotland) Acts, 1892 to 1922;
(c ) the Light Railways Acts, 1896 and 1912;
(d ) Part I of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1930 ;
(e ) Part I of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1935 ;
(f ) the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1945 .
(5) Nothing in this Act shall prevent the authorisation by special order or Provisional Order of the compulsory purchase of land under the Electricity (Supply) Acts, 1882 to 1936.
2 Temporary powers for speedy acquisition of land in urgent cases.
(1) Where during the period of five years beginning with the eighteenth day of April, nineteen hundred and forty-six, any authority (hereinafter referred to as a ‘confirming authority’) having power to authorise the compulsory purchase of land by a local authority for any purpose is satisfied—
(a ) that it is expedient that the local authority (hereinafter referred to as the ‘acquiring authority’) should purchase any land for the said purpose, and
(b ) that it is urgently necessary in the public interest that the acquiring authority should be enabled to obtain possession of the land without delay,
then, if apart from this section the acquiring authority could be authorised by the confirming authority under any enactment to purchase the land compulsorily for the said purpose in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing section or of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1945, the acquiring authority may, in lieu of being so authorised in accordance with the said provisions, be so authorised, subject to the provisions of the Third Schedule to this Act, by an authorisation in writing given by the confirming authority under this subsection.
(2) Where during the period aforesaid the Minister of Transport is satisfied that it is expedient that he should purchase any land under any enactment mentioned in paragraph (b ) of subsection (1) of the foregoing section except section twenty-eight of the Civil Aviation Act, 1946, or the Board of Trade are satisfied that it is expedient that they should purchase any land under the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945 , and the Minister or the Board are satisfied that it is urgently necessary in the public interest that the Minister or the Board should be enabled to obtain possession of the land without delay, the Minister or the Board may, in lieu of being authorised to purchase the land in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing section or of the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, be so authorised, subject to the provisions of the Third Schedule to this Act, by an authorisation in writing given by the Minister or the Board under this subsection.
In the following provisions of this section and in the Third Schedule to this Act, the expressions ‘acquiring authority’ and ‘confirming authority’ include the Minister of Transport or the Board of Trade acting under this subsection.
(3) At any time not earlier than seven days nor later than three months after the giving of an authorisation under this section, the acquiring authority may enter on, and take possession of, the land to which the authorisation relates, notwithstanding that the purchase of the land has not been completed.
(4) Where the acquiring authority has taken possession of land pursuant to an authorisation under this section, the authority shall have power to purchase the land compulsorily as if authorised so to do under the enactment referred to in subsection (1) or (2) of this section and in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing section, the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1945, or the Distribution of Industry Act, 1945, as the case may be, and the provisions of Part III of the Second Schedule to this Act; and the authority shall as soon as may be after taking possession of the land, serve notice under section seventeen of the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845 , of its intention to take the land and shall in all respects be liable as if such notice had been given on the date of the authority's entering on the land, except that the power conferred by subsection (2) of section five of the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensa tion) Act, 1919, to withdraw such a notice shall not be exercisable.
(5) A power to enter on and take possession of land conferred by an authorisation given under this section may, save as provided in the Third Schedule to this Act, be exercised without notice to, or the consent of, any person and without compliance with sections eighty-three to eighty-eight of the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845, but subject to payment of the like compensation, and interest on the compensation agreed or awarded, as the acquiring authority would have been required to pay if the provisions of those sections had been complied with.
(6) Notwithstanding anything in the two last foregoing subsections, where apart from this subsection the compensation for the compulsory purchase of land in respect of which an authorisation has been given under this section would be reduced by virtue of paragraph 8 of the Fifth Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1945 (which relates to purchases under that Act of houses unfit for human habitation) the reduction shall not be made unless an order under the said paragraph 8 has come into operation before the date on which the acquiring authority took possession of the land.
(7) While the acquiring authority is in possession of land pursuant to an authorisation given under this section, the authority shall be treated, as regards the use of the land and the rights of other persons affected by the use thereof, as if...
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