Decision Nº ACQ 23 1999. Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), 25-09-2000
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judge | Mr Peter H Clarke FRICS |
| Date | 25 September 2000 |
| Court | Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) |
| Judgement Number | ACQ 23 1999 |
ACQ/23/1999
COMPENSATION - acquisition under purchase notice of small landlocked plot of land on line of road - preliminary issues - whether an indication given that land likely to be acquired - scheme - held: no indication of likely acquisition; no scheme underlying the acquisition - Land Compensation Act 1961, ss 9 & 39(1)(2); Highways Act 1980, ss 38(3) & 263(1).
IN THE MATTER of a NOTICE OF REFERENCE
BETWEEN JOSEPH ROLAND RICHARDS
and
JOANNE VALERIE RICHARDS Claimants
and
SOMERSET COUNTY COUNCIL Acquiring
Authority
Re: Land adjoining British Telecom Radio Station,
Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
Tribunal Member: P H Clarke FRICS
Sitting at 48/49 Chancery Lane, London WC2 on 3-7 & 20 July 2000
The following cases are referred to in this decision:
London Borough of Hackney v MacFarlane(1970) 21 P&CR 342
Trocette Property Co Ltd v Greater London Council (1974) 28 P&CR 408
Jelson Ltd v Blaby District Council (1977) 34 P&CR 77
English Property Corporation plc v Kingston upon Thames Royal London Borough Council(1999) 77 P&CR 1
Pointe Gourde Quarrying & Transport Co Ltd v Sub-Intendent of Crown Lands [1947] AC 565
Margate Corporation v Devotwill Investments [1970] 3 All ER 864
Toogood v Bristol Corporation (1973) 26 P&CR 132; (1974) 28 P&CR 473
Western Fish Products Ltd v Penwith District Council (1981) 38 P&CR 7
Abbey Homesteads (Developments) Ltd v Northamptonshire County Council [1992] 2 EGLR 18
Melwood Units Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Main Roads [1974] AC 426
Tithe Redemption Commission v Runcorn Urban District Council [1954] Ch 383
Hall & Co Ltd v Shoreham-by-Sea Urban District Council [1964] 1 WLR 240
Batchelor v Kenty County Councl [1992] 1 EGLR 217
Hertfordshire County Council v Ozanne [1989] 2 EGLR 18
Wilson v Liverpool Corporation [1971] 1 WLR 302
Fraser v City of Fraserville [1917] AC 187
Myers v Milton Keynes Development Corporation [1974] 1 WLR 696
Bird v Wakefield Metropolitan District Council (1979) 37 P&CR 478
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council v Tudor Properties Ltd (2000) (unreported)
Birmingham District Council v Morris & Jacombs Ltd (1976) 33 P&CR 27
Fletcher Estates (Harlscott) Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment (2000) 2 WLR 438
J A Pye (Oxford) Ltd v Kingswood Borough Council [1998] 2 EGLR 159
Salop County Council v Craddock (1969) 213 EG 633
Wards Construction (Medway ) Ltd v Barclays Bank plc & Kent County Council (1994) 68 P&CR 391
South Eastern Ry Co v London County Council [1915] 2 Ch 252
Re Lucas and Chesterfield Gas & Water Board [1909] 1 KB 16
Robin Purchas QC and Euan Burrows instructed by Clarke Wilmott and Clarke, solicitors of Taunton, for the claimants.
Guy Roots QC and Robert Walton instructed by County Solicitor for Somerset County Council
DECISION OF THE LANDS TRIBUNAL
-
This is a decision on preliminary issues in a reference to determine the compensation payable for the acquisition under a purchase notice of vacant land at Burnham-on-Sea. The land is on the line of the eastern distributor road which has been constructed to the north and to the south. The claimants seeks substantial compensation on the grounds that the land must be valued in a hypothetical compulsory purchase world, disregarding the decrease in value which has arisen from an indication of acquisition under section 9 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 and the scheme underlying the acquisition, which came into existence in March 1977. In the absence of the indication and the scheme the reference land would have had a premium or ransom value. Somerset County Council say that the land must be valued in the real world at the date of valuation. No indication has been given of possible acquisition, or, if it has, it has not caused any depreciation in value. The scheme underlying the acquisition did not come into existence until confirmation of the purchase notice, a few months before the valuation date. Compensation is a nominal amount. This decision will establish the basis of valuation for future negotiation or determination.
-
Robin Purchas QC and Euan Burrows appeared for the claimants, Joseph Roland and Joanne Valerie Richards, and called:-
(i) Eustace David Trevor Pugh BSc MRTPI, a planning consultant of Bath since 1998 and formerly a group planner for 10 years with the Magnus Group, developers of part of Rosewood Farm, the residential development immediately adjoining the reference land.
(ii) Anthony Peter Humphreys BSc CEng MICE MIWEM, of Hyder Consulting Limited and from 1988 to 1997 also an employee of the Magnus Group.
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Guy Roots QC and Robert Walton appeared for the acquiring authority, Somerset County Council, and called:-
(i) Barry James Juniper BSc DipTP MRTPI, development control manager of Sedgemoor District Council since 1994 and formerly principal planning officer in the Local Plans Section of the Council since 1987.
(ii) Michael John Betty FIHIE, development manager since 1976 in the Highways Development Control Group of the Environmental and Property Department of Somerset County Council and an employee of the Council since 1971.
FACTS
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The parties have prepared a comprehensive statement of agreed facts and from this statement and the evidence I find the following facts.
Rosewood Farm
-
On the eastern edge of the built-up area of Burnham-on-Sea is an area of land of about 28.5 hectares known as Rosewood Farm. Much of this land has now been developed with retail and a petrol filling station in the north and housing to the south and west. There is a former refuse tip on the land. Rosewood Farm is bounded on the north by Love Lane which runs west to east from the centre of Burnham-on-Sea to a roundabout adjoining the north-eastern corner of the land with links to Love Lane North, which runs north to Stoddens Road at Middle Burnham, and Edithmead Link Road (B3140) which runs eastwards to join the A38 and M5 at junction 22. The eastern boundary of Rosewood Farm is the eastern distributor road (“the EDR”) where built and the line of the road, where unbuilt, including the reference land. This road and the line of the unbuilt road run approximately south south-east from the Love Lane roundabout, referred to above, to a roundabout adjoining the south-eastern corner of Rosewood Farm at the junction of Wallace Wells Road, Worston Lane, Worston Road and Pepperall Road, which runs south to join Burnham Road (B3139). The southern boundary is Worston Lane which runs westerly towards the centre of Burnham-on-Sea. To the west Rosewood Farm adjoins housing to which it is linked at Ashcott Drive. To the east of the EDR and close to the south-eastern roundabout, is a British Telecom Radio Station.
The EDR
-
On 16 June 1976 the Planning and Transportation Committee of Somerset County Council (“Somerset”) resolved to approve in principle the line of a distributor road (the EDR) from the Berrow/Highbridge Road (B3139) in the south to north of Stoddens Road in the north and to request Sedgemoor District Council (“Sedgemoor”) to protect the line and include it in any plans for the area. The line of the road between Love Lane and Worston Lane subsequently became part of the EDR in the Rosewood Farm Development Guide.
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On 14 March 1977 the Planning Committee of Sedgemoor resolved that the line of the road should be protected for development control purposes pending preparation of the local plan for Burnham-on-Sea. Any final decision on the alignment of the road should be determined in the context of that plan. The line of the road has been protected by Sedgemoor in successive local plans since 1977.
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The EDR does not appear as a major scheme whose implementation is one of Somerset’s strategic planning objectives in the Structure Plan in force from 1982 to 1986, the Alteration No.1(1986 to 1992), the Alteration No.2 (1992 to 2000) and the current Somerset and Exmoor Structure Plan Review.
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In 1981 applications for planning permission for development within Rosewood Farm and beyond were refused by Sedgemoor on the grounds that, although the EDR would have been provided, the scale of development was considerably in excess of that included in the structure plan. The County Surveyor advised Sedgemoor on 1 May 1981 that, if the proposed development was acceptable, then the whole area between Love Lane and Worston Road should be subject to a planning agreement with a phased development for roads, etc. The EDR to be constructed by the developers and completed before 50 per cent of the total site area is developed. Later the District Planning Officer for Sedgemoor stated that it is desirable to achieve the entire length of the EDR at Rosewood Farm before too much of the development is completed, i.e. before more than 400 houses are occupied.
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To the north of Rosewood Farm the line of the EDR continues along Love Lane North to...
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