Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980

167 Power to survey land etc. E+W+S

(1) A person to whom this subsection applies may at any reasonable time:—

(a) survey any land, or estimate its value, in connection with a proposal by an urban development corporation to acquire the land compulsorily;

(b) for the purpose of surveying, or estimating the value of, any land in pursuance of paragraph (a) above, enter on the land and other land.

(2) Subsection (1) above applies—

(a) to a person authorised in writing by the urban development corporation; and

(b) to an officer of the Valuation Office.

(3) The power to survey land conferred by subsection (1) above includes power for a person to whom that subsection applies by virtue of subsection (2)(a) above 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 for such a person to place and leave, on or in the land, apparatus for use in connection with the survey in question and to remove the apparatus.

(4) A person authorised by an urban development corporation to enter on land in pursuance of subsection (1) above—

(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 corporation on the occupier not less than 28 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 corporation on an owner of the land, and if the land is occupied on the occupier, not less than 28 days before he does so, and

(ii) If the land is held by local authority or statutory undertakers who within that period serve on the corporation 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 performance of any of their functions or, as the case may be, the carrying on of their undertakings unless he has a written Ministerial authorisation 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 a local authority or statutory undertakers—

(i) unless notice of his intention to do so has been served by the corporation on the authority or undertakers not less than 28 days before he does so, and

(ii) if within that period the authority or undertakers serve on the corporation a notice stating that they object to the searching or boring on the ground that do so would be seriously detrimental to the performance of any of their functions or, as the case may be, the carrying on of their undertaking, unless he has a written Ministerial authorisation to do so.

(5) In subsection (4) above “Ministerial authorisation” means—

(a) in relation to land held by a local authority, the authorisation of the Secretary of State; and

(b) in relation to land held by statutory undertakers, the authorisation of the Secretary of State and the appropriate Minister.

(6) In exercising the powers of this section to survey land held by a local authority or statutory undertakers a person to whom subsection (1) above applies shall comply with all reasonable conditions imposed by the authority or undertakers with regard to the entry on, surveying of, searching or boring on or in the land, or placing or leaving on, or removal of apparatus from land.

(7) Where it is proposed to search or bore in pursuance of this section in a street or controlled land within the meaning of the M1 Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950, section 26 of that Act (which imposes obligations on undertakers executing works likely to affect other undertakers’ apparatus) shall have effect in relation to the searching or boring as if it were works to which that section applies and as if the person intending to do the searching or boring were operating undertakers within the meaning of that section.

(8) If, in connection with such a proposal of a corporation as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above, a person interested in any land suffers damage in consequence of the exercise of a power conferred by subsection (1) or (4)(b) above or a failure to perform the duty imposed by subsection (4)(d) above in respect of the land, he shall be entited to recover compensation for the damage from the corporation.

(9) Any dispute as to a person’s entitlement to compensation in pursuance of subsection (8) above or as to the amount of the compensation shall be determined by the Lands Tribunal, and sections 2(2) to (5) and 4 of the M2 Land Compensation Act 1961 (which relate to the conduct of certain proceedings before the Tribunal and costs) shall with the necessary modifications apply in relation to the determination by the Tribunal of such a dispute.

(10) If a person—

(a) wilfully obstructs another person in the exercise of a power conferred on the other person by subsection (1) or (4)(b) above; or

(b) while another person is on any land in pursuance of the said subsection (4)(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 [F1 level 3 on the standard scale].

(11) 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 the statutory maximum or, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine or both.

(12) It is hereby declared that references to surveying in this section include references to surveying from the air.

(13) In the application of this section to Scotland, for the reference in subsection (9) to the Lands Tribunal there shall be substituted a reference to the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, and for the reference in that subsection to sections 2(2) to (5) and 4 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 there shall be substituted a reference to sections 9(2) to (5) and 11 of the M3 Lands Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 (which make similar provision for Scotland).

(14) In this section—

• “the statutory maximum”, in relation to a fine on summary conviction means—

(a) in England and Wales, the prescribed sum within the meaning of section 28 of the M4 Criminal Law Act 1977 (at the passing of this Act £1,000); and

(b) in Scotland, the prescribed sum within the meaning of section 289B of the M5 Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (at the passing of this Act £1,000); and

“the Valuation Office” means the Valuation Office of the Inland Revenue Department.

(15) The reference to section 28 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 in subsection (14) above shall be construed after the commencement of the M6 Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 as a reference to section 32 of that Act.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by virtue of (E.W.) Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), s. 46 and (S.) Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), s. 289G

Marginal Citations

M1 1950 c. 39 (108).

M2 1961 c. 33 (28:1).

M3 1963 c. 51.

M4 1977 c. 45 (39:1).

M5 1975 c. 21 (39:1).

M6 1980 c. 43 (82).