Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017

19 Procedure for authorising temporary possession etc

(1) This section sets out how an acquiring authority may be authorised to take temporary possession of land compulsorily under section 18(2).

(2) The temporary possession of the land must be authorised by the type of instrument (the “authorising instrument”) that would be required if the acquiring authority proposed to acquire that land compulsorily for the purposes for which it proposes to take temporary possession of that land.

(3) Accordingly, the authorising instrument—

(a) may make provision relating to temporary possession of land as well as, or instead of, compulsory acquisition,

(b) if it authorises the compulsory acquisition of land, may authorise temporary possession of the same or other land, and

(c) if it makes provision relating to temporary possession, is to be subject to the same procedures for authorising and challenging it as if the provision relating to temporary possession were provision relating to compulsory acquisition.

(4) But in so far as an authorising instrument authorises the temporary possession of land, the instrument is not to be subject to special parliamentary procedure by virtue of any enactment applying that procedure to an instrument authorising the compulsory acquisition of land, unless the land which is proposed to be subject to temporary possession is held by the National Trust inalienably.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4)—

(a) “the National Trust” means the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty incorporated by the National Trust Act 1907, and

(b) land is held by the National Trust “inalienably” if it is inalienable under section 21 of the National Trust Act 1907 or section 8 of the National Trust Act 1939.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (3)(c), the reference to compulsory acquisition does not include the compulsory acquisition of a right over land by creation unless section 18(2) applies in relation to the acquiring authority by virtue only of a power or authorisation to acquire a right over land by creation.

(7) The authorising instrument must—

(a) identify the land which is to be subject to temporary possession,

(b) describe the purposes for which temporary possession is required, and

(c) specify the total period of time for which the land may be subject to temporary possession.

(8) The authorising instrument does not need to include the dates of any particular period of temporary possession (but see section 20).