Civil Aviation Act 1949

29 Power of entry for purposes of survey

(1) Where a Minister has, under or in pursuance of this Part of this Act, made an order—

(a) authorising the compulsory purchase of land ;

(b) providing for the creation in his favour of easements over land or of other rights in or in relation to land ; or

(c) declaring that any area of land shall be subject to control by directions;

or has under consideration the making of any such order, any person authorised in writing by that Minister may at all reasonable times, on producing, if so required, evidence of his authority in that behalf, enter upon any of that land in order to make any survey which the Minister requires to be made for the purpose of any steps to be taken in consequence of the order or, as the case may be, for the purpose of determining whether the order should be made:

Provided that admission shall not, by virtue of this subsection, be demanded as of right to any land which is occupied unless twenty-four hours' notice of the intended entry has been served on the occupier.

(2) If any person obstructs a person so authorised as aforesaid in the exercise of any power conferred by this section, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

(3) Proceedings under this section for an offence shall not, in England or Wales, be instituted except by or with the consent of the Minister or by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and shall not, in Northern Ireland, be instituted except by or with the consent of the Minister, or by the Attorney-General for Northern Ireland.

(4) Where such an offence as aforesaid has been committed by a body corporate, every person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, general manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or was purporting to act in any such capacity, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence, unless he proves that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.

In this subsection the expression " director" includes any person occupying the position of director, by whatever name called.

(5) Where any land is damaged in the exercise of a power of entry conferred in pursuance of an authority given under this section, or in the making of any survey for the purpose of which any such power of entry has been so conferred, the Minister by whom the authority was given shall pay such compensation to the persons interested in the land as may be just; and where any dispute arises as to whether compensation is payable under this subsection, or as to the amount of any such compensation, or as to the persons to whom it is payable, the dispute shall be referred to and determined by the Lands Tribunal.