Town and Country Planning Act 1959
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1959 c. 53 |
Town and Country Planning Act, 1959
(7 & 8 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 53
An Act to make further provision as to compensation in respect of the compulsory acquisition of land, and as to other matters relating to the acquisition, appropriation and disposal of land by public authorities; to make provision as to proceedings in respect of certain matters arising under the Town and Country Planning Acts, 1947 to 1954, and the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Acts, 1947 to 1954, as to applications for planning permission under those Acts, and as to enforcement notices thereunder; to make further provision as to procedure in connection with statutory inquiries, as to compensation for damage to requisitioned land, and as to advances to highway authorities in respect of land acquired for highways; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
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
Compensation for Compulsory Acquisition of Land
1 General provisions as to measure of compensation.
(1) The following provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947 (in this Act referred to as ‘the Act of 1947’), and of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1954 (in this Act referred to as ‘the Act of 1954’), that is to say,—
(a ) subsection (2) and subsections (4) to (6) of section fifty-one of the Act of 1947 (which require compensation to be assessed on the basis of the existing use of the land), and
(b ) Part III of the Act of 1954 (which provides for certain compensation in addition to compensation on the basis of existing use),
shall cease to have effect, except for the purpose of assessing compensation in respect of compulsory acquisitions to which this section does not apply; and, subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, compensation in respect of compulsory acquisitions to which this section applies shall be assessed in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919 (in this Act referred to as ‘the Act of 1919’).
(2) This section applies to every compulsory acquisition of an interest in land in pursuance of a notice to treat served after the twenty-ninth day of October, nineteen hundred and fifty-eight.
(3) In the application of this section to Scotland—
(a ) for references to the Act of 1947 and to section fifty-one of that Act there shall be substituted references respectively to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1947 (in this Act referred to as ‘the Scottish Act of 1947’) and to section forty-eight of that Act; and
(b ) for references to the Act of 1954 and to Part III of that Act there shall be substituted references respectively to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1954 (in this Act referred to as ‘the Scottish Act of 1954’) and to sections thirty-two to thirty-eight of that Act.
2 Assumptions as to planning permission.
(1) For the purpose of assessing compensation in respect of any compulsory acquisition to which section one of this Act applies, such one or more of the assumptions mentioned in sections three and four of this Act as are applicable to the relevant land or any part thereof shall be made in ascertaining the value of the relevant interest.
(2) Any planning permission which, in accordance with any of the provisions of those sections, is to be assumed as therein mentioned is in addition to any planning permission which may already be in force at the date of service of the notice to treat.
(3) Nothing in those provisions shall be construed as requiring it to be assumed that planning permission would necessarily be refused for any development, notwithstanding that it is not development for which in accordance with those provisions the granting of planning permission is to be assumed; but, in determining whether planning permission for any development could in any particular circumstances reasonably have been expected to be granted in respect of any land, regard shall be had to any contrary opinion expressed in relation to that land in any certificate issued under the following provisions of this Part of this Act.
(4) For the purposes of any reference in this section, or in section three of this Act, to planning permission which is in force on the date of service of the notice to treat, it is immaterial whether the planning permission in question was granted—
(a ) unconditionally or subject to conditions, or
(b ) in respect of the land in question taken by itself or in respect of an area including that land, or
(c ) on an ordinary application or on an outline application or by virtue of a development order,
or is planning permission which, in accordance with any direction or provision given or made by or under any enactment, is deemed to have been granted.
3 Assumptions not directly derived from development plans.
(1) In a case where—
(a ) the relevant interest is to be acquired for purposes which involve the carrying out of proposals of the acquiring authority for development of the relevant land or part thereof, and
(b ) on the date of service of the notice to treat there is not in force planning permission for that development,
it shall be assumed that planning permission would be granted, in respect of the relevant land or that part thereof, as the case may be, such as would permit development thereof in accordance with the proposals of the acquiring authority.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (b ) of the preceding subsection, no account shall be taken of any planning permission so granted as not to enure (while the permission remains in force) for the benefit of the land and of all persons for the time being interested therein.
(3) Subject to the next following subsection, it shall be assumed that planning permission would be granted, in respect of the relevant land or any part thereof, for development of any class specified in the Third Schedule to the Act of 1947 (which relates to development included in the existing use of land).
(4) Notwithstanding anything in the last preceding subsection—
(a ) it shall not by virtue of that subsection be assumed that planning permission would be granted, in respect of the relevant land or any part thereof, for development of any class specified in Part II of the said Third Schedule, if it is development for which planning permission was refused at any time before the date of service of the notice to treat and compensation under section twenty of the Act of 1947 became payable in respect of that refusal;
(b ) where, at any time before the said date, planning permission was granted, in respect of the relevant land or any part thereof, for development of any class specified in Part II of the said Third Schedule, but was so granted subject to conditions, and compensation under section twenty of the Act of 1947 became payable in respect of the imposition of the conditions, it shall not by virtue of the last preceding subsection be assumed that planning permission for that development, in respect of the relevant land or that part thereof, as the case may be, would be granted otherwise than subject to those conditions;
(c ) where, at any time before the said date, an order was made under section twenty-six of the Act of 1947, in respect of the relevant land or any part thereof, requiring the removal of any building or the discontinuance of any use, and compensation became payable in respect of that order under section twenty-seven of that Act, it shall not by virtue of the last preceding subsection be assumed that planning permission would be granted, in respect of the relevant land or that part thereof, as the case may be, for the rebuilding of that building or the resumption of that use.
(5) Where a certificate is issued under the following provisions of this Part of this Act, it shall be assumed that planning permission would be granted, in respect of the relevant land or any part thereof, for development of any class specified in relation thereto in that certificate as being development for which planning permission might reasonably have been expected to be granted:
Provided that if, in any such certificate, it is indicated that, in the opinion of the authority issuing the certificate, any such planning permission would only have been granted—
(a ) subject to conditions specified in the certificate, or
(b ) at a future time so specified, or
(c ) both subject to conditions so specified and at a future time so specified,
the assumption shall be that planning permission for development of that class would be granted, in respect of the relevant land or that part thereof, but would only be granted subject to those conditions, or at that future time, or both subject to those conditions and at that future time, as the case may be.
(6) In the application of this section to Scotland, for references to the Act of 1947, and to sections twenty, twenty-six and twenty-seven of that Act, there shall be substituted references respectively to the Scottish Act of 1947 and to sections eighteen, twenty-four and twenty-five of that Act.
4 Special assumptions in respect of certain land comprised in development plans.
(1) If the relevant land or any part thereof (not being land subject to...
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