Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947

17 Obligation to purchase land on refusal of planning permission in certain cases

(1) Where planning permission is refused, whether by the local planning authority or by the Secretary of State, or is granted by that, authority or by the Secretary of State subject to conditions, then if any owner or lessee of the land concerned claims—

(a) that the land has become incapable of reasonably beneficial use in its existing state; and

(b) in a case where planning, permission was granted as aforesaid subject to conditions, that the land cannot be rendered capable of reasonably beneficial used by the carrying out of the permitted development in accordance with those conditions;

(c) in any case, that the land cannot be rendered capable of reasonably beneficial use by the carrying out of any other development for which planning permission has been or is deemed to be granted or for which the local planning authority or the Secretary of State have undertaken to grant such permission,

he may, within the time and in the manner prescribed by regulations made under this Act, serve on the local planning authority in whose district the land is situated a notice (hereinafter referred to as a " purchase notice ") requiring that authority to purchase his interest in the land in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(2) Where a purchase notice is served on any local planning authority under this section that authority shall forthwith transmit a copy of the notice to the Secretary of State, and subject to the following provisions of this section the Secretary of State shall, if he is satisfied that the conditions specified in the foregoing subsection are fulfilled, confirm the notice, and thereupon the authority shall be deemed to be authorised to acquire the interest of that person compulsorily in accordance with the provisions of Part III of this Act, and to have served a notice to treat in respect thereof on such date as the Secretary of State may direct;

Provided that—

(a) if it appears to the Secretary of State to be expedient so to do, he may, in lieu of confirming the purchase notice, grant planning permission for the development in respect of which the application was made or, where planning permission for that development was granted subject to conditions, revoke or amend those conditions so far as appears to him to be required in order to enable the land to be rendered capable of reasonably beneficial use by the carrying out of that development;

(b) if it appears to the Secretary of State that the land, or any part of the land, could be rendered capable of reasonably beneficial use within a reasonable time by the carrying out of any other development for which permission ought to be granted, he may, in lieu of confirming the notice, or in lieu of confirming it so far as it relates to that part of the land, as the case may be, direct that such permission shall be so granted in the event of an application being made in that behalf;

(c) if it appears to the Secretary of State to be expedient that another local authority should acquire the interest for the purpose of any of their functions, he may, if he confirms the notice, modify it either in relation to the whole or in relation to any part of the land to which it relates by substituting that other authority for the local planning authority on whom the notice is served, and in any such case the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall have effect accordingly.

(3) If within the period of six months from the date oh which a purchase notice is served under this section the Secretary of State has neither confirmed the notice nor taken any such other action as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of the proviso to the last foregoing subsection, nor notified the owner or lessee, as the case may be, by whom the notice was served that he does not propose to confirm the notice, the notice shall be deemed to be confirmed at the expiration of that period, and the authority on whom the notice was served shall be deemed to be authorised to acquire the interest of the owner or lessee compulsorily in accordance with the provisions of Part III of this Act, and to have served notice to treat in respect thereof at the expiration of the said period.

(4) The power conferred by subsection (2) of section five of the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, to withdraw a notice to treat shall not be exerciseable in the case of a notice to treat which is deemed to have been served by virtue of this section.

(5) Before confirming a purchase notice, or taking any other action in lieu thereof, under this section, the Secretary of State shall give notice of his proposed action—

(a) to the person by whom the notice was served;;

(b) to the local planning authority, on whom the notice was served; and

(c) to any other local authority whom the Secretary of State proposes, under subsection (2) of this section, to substitute for the said local planning authority;

and if within the period prescribed by the notice under this subsection (not being less than twenty-eight days from the service thereof) any person or authority on whom that notice is served so requires, the Secretary of State shall, before confirming the purchase notice or taking any such other action as aforesaid, afford to those persons and authorities an opportunity of appearing before and being heard by a person appointed by him for the purpose.