Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act 1878

Discontinuance of unnecessary Highways

24 Unnecessary highways may be declared not repairable at the public expense

If any authority liable to keep any highway in repair is of opinion that so much of such highway as lies within any parish situate in a petty sessional division is unnecessary for public use, and therefore ought not to be maintained at the public expense, such authority (in this section referred to " as the applicant authority") may apply to the court, of summary jurisdiction of such petty sessional division to view by two or more justices, being members of the court, the highway to which such application relates, and on such view being had, if the court of summary jurisdiction is of opinion that the application ought to be proceeded with, it shall by notice in writing to the owners or reputed owners and occupiers of all lands abutting upon such highway, and by public notice, appoint a time and place, not earlier than one month from the date of such notice, at which it will be prepared to hear all persons objecting to such highway being declared unnecessary for public use, and not repairable at the expense of the public.

On the day and at the place appointed, the court shall hear any persons objecting to an order being made by the court that such highway is unnecessary for public use and ought not to be repairable at the public expense, and shall make an order either dismissing the application or declaring such highway unnecessary for public use, and that it ought not to be repaired at the public expense.

If the court make such last-mentioned order as aforesaid, the expenses of repairing such highway shall cease to be defrayed out of any public rate.

Public notice of the time and place appointed for hearing a case under this section shall be given by the applicant authority as follows; that is to say,

(1) By advertising a notice of the time and place appointed for the hearing and the object of the hearing, with a description of the highway to which it refers in some local newspaper circulating in the district in which such highway is situate once at least in each of the four weeks preceding the hearing; and

(2) By causing a copy of such notice to be affixed, at least fourteen days before the hearing, to the principal doors of every church and chapel in the parish in which such highway is situate, or in some conspicuous position near such highway.

And the application shall not be entertained by the court until the fact of such public notice having been given is proved to its satisfaction.

If at any time after an order has been made by a court of summary jurisdiction under this section, upon application of any person interested in the maintenance of the highway in respect of which such order has been made, after one month's previous notice in writing thereof to the applicant authority, it appears to the court of quarter sessions that from any change of circumstances since the time of the making of any such order as aforesaid such highway has become of public use, and ought to be maintained at the public expense, the court of quarter sessions may direct that the liability of such highway to be maintained at the public expense shall revive from and after such day as they may name in their order, and such highway shall thenceforth be maintained out of the rate applicable to payment of the expenses of repairing other highways repairable by the applicant authority; and the said court of quarter sessions may by their order direct the expenses of and incident to such application to be paid as they may see fit.

Any order of a court of summary jurisdiction under this section shall be deemed to be an order from which an appeal lies to a court of quarter sessions.