Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976

14 Injurious affection connected with certain land held by local authorities and acquired by agreement before 1st April 1974. E+W

(1) Where an interest in land is held by a local authority for a purpose for which the authority can by virtue of an enactment be authorised to acquire land compulsorily and—

(a) the interest was acquired by agreement by the authority or another body before 1st April 1974 and, where it was acquired by another body, has not since the acquisition been transferred otherwise than by an Act or an order made under an Act; and

(b) provisions of the Lands Clauses Acts or the M1 Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 apply to the acquisition but those provisions do not include section 68 of the M2 Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 (under which there is among other things a right to compensation in respect of land injuriously affected by certain works) or section 10 of the said Act of 1965 (which re-enacts the said section 68),

the authority may by resolution provide that, on and after the date when the resolution comes into force, the said section 68 or as the case may be the said section 10 shall be included among the provisions aforesaid which apply to the acquisition.

(2) Where an authority passes a resolution in pursuance of the preceding subsection in connection with any land in which the authority holds an interest, it shall be the duty of the authority—

(a) to send to the appropriate Minister a copy of the resolution and a map indicating the land;

(b) to publish in two successive weeks, in one or more local newspapers circulating in the area in which the land is situated, a copy of the resolution and a notice stating—

(i) a place in the area of the council where a map indicating the land may be inspected by members of the public free of charge between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on each weekday, except Saturdays and bank holidays, during a period specified in the notice (which shall not be less than 21 days beginning with the date of first publication of the notice in pursuance of this paragraph), and

(ii) that any person having an interest in land which could be injuriously affected by virtue of the resolution if it came into force may object to the resolution in accordance with the following subsection, and

(iii) the designation and address of the appropriate Minister;

(c) not later than the date aforesaid, to serve a copy of the resolution and of the said notice, by post by the recorded delivery service, on each person who, after reasonable inquiry, appears to the authority to be such a person as is mentioned in paragraph (b)(ii) of this subsection; and

(d) not later than that date, to affix a copy of the resolution and the said notice in a prominent position on the land.

(3) Any such person as is mentioned in paragraph (b)(ii) of the preceding subsection may object to the resolution in question by serving on the appropriate Minister, within the period mentioned in paragraph (b)(i) of that subsection, a notice setting out the grounds of his objection.

(4) A resolution passed in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section shall not come into force unless the appropriate Minister makes an order providing that it shall come into force and, where he makes such an order, shall come into force on the date specified in the order; and the appropriate Minister—

(a) shall not make such an order in respect of a resolution before the expiration of the period specified in pursuance of paragraph (b)(i) of subsection (2) of this section in the notice published in pursuance of that subsection in connection with the resolution; and

(b) may hold an inquiry for the purpose of deciding whether to make such an order in respect of a resolution.

(5) Where an order is made in pursuance of this section in respect of a resolution passed by an authority, it shall be the duty of the authority—

(a) to publish in two successive weeks, in one or more local newspapers circulating in the area in which the land to which the resolution relates is situated, a notice stating that the order has been made, the date specified in the order as that on which the resolution comes into force and the effect of the following subsection; and

(b) to serve a copy of the notice, by post by the recorded delivery service, on each person on whom notice in respect of the resolution was served in pursuance of subsection (2)(c) of this section.

(6) No question as to the validity of a resolution purporting to be passed in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section or of an order purporting to be made in pursuance of this section in respect of such a resolution shall be entertained in any proceedings begun after the expiration of the period of three months beginning with the date when notice relating to the resolution was first published in pursuance of the preceding subsection; and, except as otherwise determined in proceedings begun before the expiration of that period, such a resolution shall be deemed to be duly passed and such an order shall be deemed to be duly made.

(7) In this section “the appropriate Minister” means, in relation to a resolution passed by an authority in connection with any land in which an interest is held by the authority, the Minister of the Crown having power to authorise the authority to acquire land compulsorily for the purposes for which the interest is held by the authority; and section 250 of the M3 Local Government Act 1972 (which relates to local inquiries) shall have effect in relation to an inquiry in pursuance of subsection (4)(b) of this section as if for the reference to the Secretary of State in subsection (1) of that section there were substituted a reference to the appropriate Minister.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Power to apply s. 14 conferred (1.9.1997) by 1997 c. 50, s. 44(1), Sch. 4 para. (c)(i); S.I. 1997/1930, art. 2(2)(m)

C2 Ss. 13-16: power to amend conferred (26.12.2023) by Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (c. 55), ss. 132, 255(3)(a) (with s. 247)

Marginal Citations

M1 1965 c. 56.

M2 1845 c. 18.

M3 1972 c. 70.