Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976

15 Power of local authorities to survey land which they propose to acquire compulsorily.E+W

(1)A person authorised in writing in that behalf by a local authority may at any reasonable time—

(a)survey any land in connection with a proposal by the authority to acquire compulsorily an interest in the land or a right over the land which is not such an interest; and

(b)for the purpose of surveying any land in pursuance of the preceding paragraph, enter on the land and other land.

(2)The power to survey land conferred by the preceding subsection includes power to search and bore on and in the land for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the subsoil or whether minerals are present in the subsoil, and the power to enter on land conferred by that subsection includes power to place and leave, on or in the land, apparatus for use in connection with the survey in question and power to remove the apparatus; and it is hereby declared that references to surveying in this section include surveying from the air.

(3)A person authorised by a local authority to enter on land in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section—

(a)shall, if so required before or after entering on the land, produce evidence of his authority to enter;

(b)may take with him on to the land such other persons and such equipment as are necessary for the survey in question;

(c)shall not if the land is occupied demand admission to the land as of right unless notice of the intended entry has been served by the local authority on the occupier not less than fourteen days before the demand;

(d)shall, if the land is unoccupied when he enters or the occupier is then temporarily absent, leave the land as effectually secured against trespassers as he found it;

(e)shall not place or leave apparatus on or in the land or remove apparatus from the land—

(i)unless notice of his intention to do so has been served by the local authority on an owner of the land, and if the land is occupied on the occupier, not less than fourteen days before he does so, and

(ii)if the land is held by relevant undertakers who within that period serve on the local authority a notice stating that they object to the placing or leaving or removal of the apparatus on the ground that to do so would be seriously detrimental to the carrying on of their undertaking, unless the Secretary of State authorises him in writing to do so;

(f)shall not search or bore on or in the land which is the subject of the survey in question if the land is held by relevant undertakers—

(i)unless notice of his intention to do so has been served by the local authority on the undertakers not less than fourteen days before he does so, and

(ii)if within that period the undertakers serve on the local authority a notice stating that they object to the searching or boring on the ground that to do so would be seriously detrimental to the carrying on of their undertaking, unless the Secretary of State authorises him in writing to do so;

and in paragraphs (e) and (f) of this subsection “relevant undertakers” means any statutory undertakers, any person authorised to carry on a light railway undertaking, a ferry undertaking or an undertaking for supplying district heating, F1. . . [F2the Civil Aviation Authority and a person who holds a licence under Chapter I of Part I of the Transport Act 2000 (air traffic services)].

[F3(3A)For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section—

(a)a person who holds a licence under Chapter I of Part I of the Transport Act 2000 shall not be considered to be a relevant undertaker unless the person is carrying out activities authorised by the licence;

(b)the person’s undertaking shall not be considered to be that of a relevant undertaker except to the extent that it is the person’s undertaking as licence holder.]

F4[(4)Where it is proposed to search or bore in pursuance of this section in a street within the meaning of Part III of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991—

(a)section 55 of that Act (notice of starting date of works), so far as it requires notice to be given to a person having apparatus in the street which is likely to be affected by the works,

(b)section 69 of that Act (requirements to be complied with where works likely to affect another person’s apparatus in the street), and

(c)section 82 of that Act (liability for damage or loss caused),

have effect in relation to the searching or boring as if they were street works within the meaning of that Part.]

(5)If, in connection with such a proposal of a local authority as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) of this section, a person interested in any land suffers damage in consequence of the exercise of a power conferred by subsection (1) or (3)(b) of this section or a failure to perform the duty imposed by subsection (3)(d) of this section in respect of the land, he shall be entitled to recover compensation for the damage from the local authority.

(6)Any dispute as to a person’s entitlement to compensation in pursuance of the preceding subsection or as to the amount of the compensation shall be determined by the [F5Upper Tribunal] , and [F6section] 4 of the M1Land Compensation Act 1961 (which [F7relates to] costs) shall with the necessary modifications apply in relation to the determination by the Tribunal of such a dispute.

(7)If a person—

(a)wilfully obstructs another person in the exercise of a power conferred on the other person by subsection (1) or (3)(b) of this section; or

(b)while another person is on any land in pursuance of the said subsection (3)(b), wilfully obstructs him in doing things connected with the survey in question; or

(c)removes or otherwise interferes with apparatus left on or in land in pursuance of this section,

he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F8level 3 on the standard scale].

(8)If a person who has entered on any land in pursuance of this section discloses to another person information obtained by him there about a manufacturing process or trade secret, then, unless the disclosure is made in the course of performing his duty in connection with the purposes for which he was authorised to enter on the land, he shall 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.

(9)A local authority which has power by virtue of [F9section 289(1) of the M2Highways Act 1980], [F10section 324(6) of the M3Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 88(5) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990]or paragraph 20(1) of Schedule 4 to the M4Community Land Act 1975 to authorise a person to survey or enter on any land as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall not be entitled by virtue of that subsection to authorise a person to survey or enter on the land.