40.The HCA may authorise a person to enter any land in connection with a proposal by the HCA to acquire that land or other land, or a claim for compensation in respect of acquisition of land. This power may be exercised for the purpose of surveying the land or estimating its value. The section sets out entry and notice requirements, and enables compensation to be recovered if the land is damaged as a result of the authorised person entering the land or the survey being undertaken. An offence is committed if a person intentionally obstructs another person in the exercise of that other person’s powers under section 17. A person who commits such an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale, which is currently a fine not exceeding £500.
41.The power to survey land includes power to search and bore in order to establish the nature of the subsoil or the presence of any minerals, provided that notice of intention to do so is included in the notice of intended entry required under section 17. In addition, if the proposed works are to be carried out on land held by a statutory undertaker and the statutory undertaker objects because the works would seriously interfere with the carrying out of their functions, the consent of the appropriate Minister is needed before the works can be carried out.