Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1969

50 Compulsory acquisition of listed building in need of repair

(1) Where it appears to the Secretary of State, in the case of a building to which this section applies, that reasonable steps are not being taken for properly preserving it, the Secretary of State may authorise the local planning authority for the district in which the building is situated to acquire compulsorily under this section the building and any land comprising or contiguous or adjacent to it which appears to the Secretary of State to be required for preserving the building or its amenities, or for affording access to it, or for its proper control or management.

(2) Where it appears to the Secretary of State, in the case of a building to which this section applies, that reasonable steps are not being taken for properly preserving it, he may be authorised under this section to acquire compulsorily the building and any land comprising or contiguous or adjacent to it which appears to him to be required for the purpose mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) This section applies to any listed building, not being—

(a) an ecclesiastical building which is for the time being used for ecclesiastical purposes; or

(b) a building which is the subject of a scheme or order under the enactments for the time being in force with respect to ancient monuments; or

(c) a building for the time being included in a list of monuments published by the Secretary of State under any such enactment.

For the purposes of this subsection, a building used or available for use by a minister of religion wholly or mainly as a residence from which to perform the duties of his office shall be treated as not being an ecclesiastical building.

(4) The Secretary of State shall not make or confirm a compulsory purchase order for the acquisition of any building by virtue of this section unless he is satisfied that it is expedient to make provision for the preservation of the building and to authorise its compulsory acquisition for that purpose.

(5) The Acquisition Act 1947 shall apply to the compulsory acquisition of land under this section and accordingly shall have effect—

(a) as if this section had been in force immediately before the commencement of that Act; and

(b) as if references therein to the Minister of Transport and to the enactments specified in section 1(1)(b) of that Act included respectively references to the Secretary of State and to the provisions of this section.

(6) Any person having an interest in a building which it is proposed to acquire compulsorily under this section may, within twenty-eight days after the service of the notice required to be served under paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Acquisition Act 1947, apply to the sheriff for an order prohibiting further proceedings on the compulsory purchase order; and, if the sheriff is satisfied that reasonable steps have been taken for properly preserving the building, he shall make an order accordingly.

(7) A person aggrieved by a decision of the sheriff on an application under subsection (6) above may appeal against the decision to the Court of Session, but on a question of law only.