Highways Act 1980

New street byelaws E+W

186 Power of county councils and London boroughs and the Common Council to make new street byelaws. E+W

(1) The council of every county [F1 , metropolitan district and] London borough and the Common Council may, and if required by the Secretary of State shall, make byelaws for regulating all or any of the following matters:—

(a) the level, width and construction of new streets in their area, and

(b) the provision for the sewerage of such streets;

and the power to make byelaws under this subsection extends to the making of byelaws requiring any person constructing a new street to provide separate sewers for foul water drainage and surface water drainage respectively.

(2) No byelaw under this section shall regulate the level, width or construction of a new street in so far as it is to be carried by a bridge or is to form the approaches to a bridge.

(3) If a council, when required by the Secretary of State to make byelaws under subsection (1) above, do not within 3 months from the date on which the requirement is made to them make in accordance with the requirement byelaws satisfactory to him, the Secretary of State may himself make the byelaws.

(4) Byelaws for regulating matters that may be regulated under this section are hereafter in this Part of this Act referred to as “new street byelaws”.

(5) New street byelaws may include provision as to—

(a) the giving of notices and the deposit of plans;

(b) the inspection of work, the testing of sewers, and the taking by the county council [F2 , metropolitan district council] or London borough council, or the Common Council, of samples of the materials to be used in the execution of works.

(6) New street byelaws may require that plans to be deposited in pursuance of the byelaws shall be deposited in duplicate.

(7) The Secretary of State is the confirming authority as respects new street byelaws and any byelaws made by the Secretary of State under this section have effect as if they had been made by the county council [F2 , metropolitan district council] or London borough council, or the Common Council, and confirmed by the Secretary of State.

(8) A new street byelaw made under this section (or under section 157 of the M1 Highways Act 1959, which this section replaces) shall cease to have effect on the expiration of 10 years from the date on which it was made or on the expiration of such longer period as the Secretary of State may by order allow.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by Local Government Act 1985 (c. 51, SIF 81:1), s. 8, Sch. 4 para. 29(a)

F2 Words inserted by Local Government Act 1985 (c. 51, SIF 81:1), s. 8, Sch. 4 para. 29(b)

Marginal Citations

M1 1959 c. 25.

187 Continuation of existing street to be a new street. E+W

A continuation of an existing street may be deemed to be a new street for the purpose of the application to it of new street byelaws.

188 Power to declare existing highway to be a new street. E+W

(1) Where it appears to the council of a county [F3 , metropolitan district] or London borough, or the Common Council, that an existing highway in their area will be converted into a new street as a consequence of building operations which have been, or are likely to be, undertaken in the vicinity, the council may by order prescribe the centre line of the new street and outer lines defining the minimum width of the new street, which shall be the minimum width required by the relevant byelaw provisions.

In this subsection “the relevant byelaw provisions” means the provisions of new street byelaws in force in the area of the council regulating the width of a new street intended to be the principal means of access to any building and of a length equal to the length of the highway to which the order relates.

(2) Not less than one month before making an order under this section, the council shall cause notice of the intended order to be displayed at each end of, or in some conspicuous position in, the highway to which the order relates.

(3) Every such notice shall contain a statement that the intended order may be made by the council on or at any time after a day named in the notice, and shall state the right of appeal conferred by subsection (4) below.

(4) A person aggrieved by an order under this section may appeal to the Crown Court.

(5) Where an order under this section has effect, no person shall erect a new building on the land situated between the outer lines prescribed by the order (“the prescribed land”).

(6) If, where an order under this section has effect, work for the erection of a new building is commenced on land adjoining the prescribed land, then, on the commencement of that work—

(a) the appropriate portion of the prescribed land shall become part of the existing highway, and

(b) the owner of that portion shall remove any boundary fence or other obstruction situated on it and bring the level of it into conformity with that of the existing highway.

For the purposes of this subsection the appropriate portion of the prescribed land is the portion situated between the centre line prescribed by the order and the land on which the building is to be erected or which is to be occupied with it, other than land so situated which forms part of the existing highway.

(7) Land which becomes part of the existing highway in accordance with subsection (6) above does not become a highway maintainable at the public expense, even if the existing highway is so maintainable.

(8) Nothing in this section extends to a building (other than a dwelling-house) erected, in pursuance of their statutory powers, by any of the following undertakers and used or occupied, or intended to be used or occupied, by them for the following purposes respectively:—

(a) railway undertakers for purposes of a railway comprised in the railway undertaking;

(b) canal undertakers for purposes of a canal comprised in the canal undertaking;

(c) inland navigation undertakers for purposes of a navigation comprised in the inland navigation undertaking;

(d) dock undertakers for purposes of a dock comprised in the dock undertaking; or

(e) harbour undertakers for purposes of a harbour comprised in the harbour undertaking.

(9) In this section “building” includes a wall.

Textual Amendments

F3 Words inserted by Local Government Act 1985 (c. 51, SIF 81:1), s. 8, Sch. 4 para. 7

189 Revocation and amendment of orders under section 188. E+W

(1) A county council, [F4 , metropolitan district council or London] borough council or the Common Council may by an order in writing—

(a) revoke an order made by them under section 188 above;

(b) amend any such order relating to 2 or more streets so as to reduce the number of streets to which the order relates;

(c) amend any such order so as to exclude from it a part of a street but not so as to make the order relate to parts of the same street which are not continuous.

(2) A council who propose to make an order under subsection (1) above shall cause notice of the proposal to be displayed, at least one month before they make the order, in a conspicuous position in each street to which the proposal relates and shall include in the notice a statement indicating that the order may be made on or at any time after a date specified in the notice.

(3) Where a county council make an order under subsection (1) above they shall send a copy of the order as soon as practicable to each registering authority for the purposes of the M2 Local Land Charges Act 1975 within whose area any street or part of a street to which the order relates is situated.

Textual Amendments

F4 Words substituted by Local Government Act 1985 (c. 51, SIF 81:1), s. 8, Sch. 4 para. 30

Marginal Citations

M2 1975 c. 76.

190 Power to relax byelaw requirements. E+W

(1) Where the council of a county [F5 , metropolitan district council] or London borough, or the Common Council, consider that the operation of a new street byelaw in force in their area would be unreasonable in relation to a particular case they may, wth the consent of the Secretary of State, relax the requirements of the byelaw or dispense with compliance with it.

(2) The council shall give notice on any such proposed relaxation or dispensation in such manner and to such persons, if any, as the Secretary of State may direct, and the Secretary of State shall not give his consent before the expiration of one month from the date of the giving of the notice.

(3) Before giving his consent the Secretary of State shall take into consideration any objection which may have been received by him.

Textual Amendments

F5 Words inserted by Local Government Act 1985 (c. 51, SIF 81:1), s. 8, Sch. 4 para. 7