Agriculture Act 1947

Provisions as to compulsory acquisition of land.

92 Procedure for compulsory purchase of land.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where under any provision of this Act power is conferred on the Minister or a smallholdings authority to purchase land compulsorily, the power shall be exercisable for the purchase of any particular land on the Minister or the authority, as the case may be, being authorised so to purchase the land in accordance with the provisions of the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946, and that Act shall apply accordingly—

(a) as if paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section one thereof (which refers to the compulsory purchase of land by the Minister of Transport under certain enactments) included a reference to any compulsory purchase of land by the Minister under this Act, and

(b) as if this Act had been in force immediately before the commencement of the said Act of 1946:

Provided that section two of that Act (which confers temporary powers for speedy acquisition of land in urgent cases) shall not apply to any compulsory purchase of land under this Act.

(2) Where under any provision of this Act power is conferred on the Minister to purchase any particular land compulsorily on the giving of a certificate by him, the certificate shall have effect as if it were a compulsory purchase order made under section one of the said Act of 1946, and—

(a) where the certificate relates to land falling within subsection (2) of the said section one (which applies, to purchases of local authorities' and statutory undertakers' land, commons, open spaces and inalienable National Trust land, and ancient monuments and other objects of archaeological interest, the special procedure set out in Part III of the First Schedule to that Act) the certificate shall be embodied in an order of the Minister and the said Part III shall apply accordingly;

(b) subsection (3) of the said section one and the Second Schedule to the said Act of 1946 (which provide for incorporation of the Lands Clauses Acts and other enactments) shall have effect in relation to the purchase, and anything which under that Schedule may be provided by a compulsory purchase order may be provided by the said certificate;

(c) in the application to the certificate of Part IV of the First Schedule to the said Act of 1946 (which relates to the validity and coming into operation of compulsory purchase orders) for references to the first publication of notice of the making of an order there shall be substituted references to the service of notice of the giving of the certificate, and for references to the requirements of the said First Schedule and of regulations made thereunder there shall be substituted references to the requirements of this Act as to the proceedings to be taken before the giving of the certificate.

(3) In relation to a compulsory purchase under section eighty-seven of this Act the said Act of 1946 shall have effect subject to the following modifications:—

(a) head (a) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 3 of the First Schedule (which provides for advertisement in local newspapers) shall not apply;

(b) the Minister may disregard any objection to the compulsory purchase order if he is satisfied that the objection is made on the ground that the purchase is unnecessary or inexpedient.

93 Compulsory hiring of land.

(1) The Minister may with the approval of the Treasury make regulations for giving effect to the provisions of this Act as to the compulsory hiring of land, and regulations under this section may provide—

(a) for prescribing the procedure for the compulsory hiring of land under this Act, being such procedure as appears to the Minister to correspond as nearly as may be with the procedure for the compulsory purchase of land under this Act;

(b) for applying to the compulsory hiring of land, with such adaptations, exceptions or modifications as appear to the Minister requisite, provisions of the Lands Clauses Acts, sections seventy-seven to eighty-five of the [8 & 9 Vict. c. 20.] Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946, except section two of the last mentioned Act, and any other provision which had effect in relation to the compulsory hiring of land under any enactment repealed by this Act;

(c) for determining the terms and conditions of a compulsory hiring other than the rent;

(d) for requiring questions arising on the determination of a compulsory hiring to be determined by arbitration.

(2) Regulations under this section may apply generally to all compulsory hirings under this Act or may make different provisions for different classes of such hirings.

94 Limitation of period of compulsory hiring.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no compulsory hiring of land under this Act shall be for a term longer than thirty-five years.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that the fact that the Minister or smallholdings authority is in possession of land by virtue of a compulsory hiring thereof does not prevent the Minister or authority, as the case may be, purchasing the land compulsorily.

(3) Where land has been compulsorily hired under this Act or any enactment thereby repealed and the person who but for the hiring would be entitled to possession of the land requires the land or part thereof for any purpose for which it appears to the Minister expedient that the said person should resume possession thereof, the said person may with the consent of the Minister resume possession of the land or part thereof in question—

(a) in the case of land hired by the Minister, within such period after the granting of the Minister's consent as the Minister may specify;

(b) in the case of land hired by a smallholdings authority, upon giving to the authority twelve months' previous notice in writing of his intention so to do or such shorter notice as may have been specified for the purposes of this subsection in the order authorising the compulsory hiring of the land;

and if possession is resumed by the said person of part only of the land, the rent payable as from the date of resumption in respect of the hiring of the remainder of the land shall be reduced in such proportion as in default of agreement may be determined in the like manner as under the last foregoing section rent is determined for the compulsory hiring of land under this Act.