Town and Country Planning Act 1971

281 Supplementary provisions as to rights of entry

(1) A person authorised under section 280 of this Act to enter any land shall, if so required, produce evidence of his authority before so entering, and shall not demand admission as of right to any land which is occupied unless twenty-four hours' notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier.

(2) Any person who wilfully obstructs a person acting in the exercise of his powers under section 280 of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £20.

(3) If any person who, in compliance with the provisions of section 280 of this Act, is admitted into a factory, workshop or workplace discloses to any person any information obtained by him therein as to any manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall, unless the disclosure is made in the course of performing his duty in connection with the purpose for which he was authorised to enter the premises, be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400 or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine, or both.

(4) Where any land is damaged in the exercise of a right of entry conferred under section 280 of this Act, or in the making of any survey for the purpose of which any such right of entry has been so conferred, compensation in respect of that damage may be recovered by any person interested in the land from the Secretary of State or authority on whose behalf the entry was effected.

(5) The provisions of section 179 of this Act shall apply in relation to compensation under subsection (4) of this section as they apply in relation to compensation under Part VIII of this Act.

(6) Where under section 280 of this Act a person proposes to carry out any works authorised by virtue of subsection (9) of that section—

(a) he shall not carry out those works unless notice of his intention to do so was included in the notice required by subsection (1) of this section ; and

(b) if the land in question is held by statutory undertakers, and those undertakers object to the proposed works on the grounds that the carrying out thereof would be seriously detrimental to the carrying on of their undertaking, the works shall not be carried out except with the authority of the appropriate Minister.