Town and Country Planning Act 1959

30 General provisions relating to Part II

(1) Any reference in this Part of this Act to a provision that a power is not to be exercised except with the consent of a Minister is a reference to a provision which either—

(a) requires such consent generally in respect of any exercise of the power, or

(b) requires such consent in respect of the exercise of the power in such circumstances as may be specified therein.

(2) For the purposes of this Part of this Act any provision whereby a power is to be exercised only if a Minister specified therein is satisfied as to any matters so specified shall be taken to be a provision that the power shall not be exercised except with the consent of that Minister.

(3) Any reference in this Part of this Act to an enactment whereby a power is conferred on an authority to whom this Part of this Act applies, or on a class of such authorities,—

(a) shall be taken to include any enactment whereby the power in question is conferred on local authorities generally, or on a class of local authorities which includes a class of authorities to whom this Part of this Act applies, or is conferred on a class of authorities to whom this Part of this Act applies together with any other class of local authorities, but

(b) shall not be taken to include any enactment whereby (without particular reference to local authorities, or to bodies of any description specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act) a power is conferred generally on persons of a description specified in the enactment, notwithstanding that one or more authorities to whom this Part of this Act applies may fall within the description specified in the enactment.

(4) For the purposes of any provision of this Part of this Act whereby the consent of a Minister is required, or directions may be given by a Minister, for any purpose therein mentioned, the consent or directions may be given by that Minister either generally to all authorities to whom the provision relates, or to any class of such authorities, or may be given specifically in any particular case, and (whether given generally or otherwise) may be given either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the Minister giving the consent or directions may consider appropriate.

(5) For the purposes of this Part of this Act land shall be taken to have been acquired by an authority in the exercise (directly or indirectly) of compulsory powers if it was acquired by them compulsorily or was acquired by them by agreement at a time when they were authorised by or under an enactment to acquire the land compulsorily:

Provided that land shall not be taken to have been acquired by an authority in the exercise (directly or indirectly) of compulsory powers if it was acquired by them (whether compulsorily or by agreement) in consequence of the service in pursuance of any enactment (including any enactment contained in this Act) of a notice requiring the authority to purchase the land.

(6) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this Part of this Act, nothing in those provisions in their application to England and Wales—

(a) shall affect any acquisition of corporate land, or

(b) shall affect any appropriation of land which, immediately before the appropriation, is corporate land, or shall affect or require the making of any adjustment in the accounts of an authority to whom this Part of this Act applies in consequence of such an appropriation, or

(c) shall affect any disposal of land which, immediately before the disposal, is corporate land, or affect the application of any capital money received in respect of any corporate land disposed of by an authority to whom this Part of this Act applies, or affect or require any adjustment in the accounts of such an authority in consequence of any such disposal.