Statutes
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1963.tb00698.x |
| Published date | 01 January 1963 |
| Date | 01 January 1963 |
STATUTES
THE
PIPE-LINES
ACT,
1962
THE
Pipe-lines Act,
1962,l
enables the Minister of Power to control
the development of cross-country pipe-lines, to control the con-
struction, operation and maintenance of pipe-lines in the interests
of
public safety, and compulsorily
to
acquire land, or rights over
land, including land belonging
to
statutory undertakers,z for the
benefit of private bodies, such as oil companies, which have
acquired in some respects the status
of
public utilities. The rail-
way building age of the nineteenth century may be repeated by
the pipe-line building age of the twentieth century.
Private
Bills
It
had become apparent that a number of Private Bills were going
to be presented to Parliament by oil companies and similar
concerns to acquire statutory authority to lay pipe-lines, particu-
larly in order to obtain compulsory powers of acquisition of land
and rights where negotiation failed.s Private Rill procedure is
expensive, tedious, fortuitous in its operation, does not provide
objectors with suitable opportunities for objection, and is essen-
tially piecemeal. The prospect of local authorities hoping
to
obtain a few extra powers
on
the sly and of pipe-line companies
hoping to steal a march
on
their rivals is not particularly edifying,
and the advent of general legislation conferring power
on
the
Minister to formulate and apply some
sort
of co4rdinated national
policy in such a potentially important matter as pipe-line
development must surely be welcome.
A
House of Commons committee reported in
1960'
that the
Private Bill procedure did not enable full protection to be given
to owners, lessees and occupiers in order to safeguard their interests
where a pipe-line was to
be
constructed and accordingly recom-
mended that
no
further private bills for pipe-lines should be
passed. The committee also recommended that pipe-lines should
be authorised by Provisional Order, suggesting that a public
inquiry should be held before the Order was made and the Order
itself should be confirmed by a Provisional Order Bill. The first
recommendation has led to the Pipe-lines Act,
1962;
the second,
1
10
&
11
Eliz.
2,
c.
58.
2
Sched.
11,
Part
I,
para.
8.
8
See,
e.g.,
the
Esso
Petroleum Company Act, 1961.
4
Special Report
of
the Select Committee
on
the
Esso
Petroleum Company Bill
58
1969-1960
(280) Vol.
IV.
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