Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1959

24 Exercise of powers of appropriation

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, where by any enactment—

(a) power is conferred on any authority to whom this Part of this Act applies, or on any class of such authorities, to appropriate land for any purpose, whether the purpose is defined in the enactment specifically or by reference to some other power exercisable by the authority or class of authorities in question, but

(b) that power is so conferred subject to a provision (in whatever terms the provision is expressed, and whether it is contained in the same or in any other enactment) that the power is not to be exercised except with the consent of a Minister specified in that provision, or for a purpose approved by a Minister so specified, with or without a further provision enabling conditions to be imposed by such a Minister in respect of the exercise of the power,

the enactment shall have effect, in relation to any exercise of the power after the commencement of this Act by an authority to whom this Part of this Act applies, as if it conferred that power free from any such provision as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(2) The exercise after the commencement of this Act, by any authority to whom this Part of this Act applies, of any power of appropriation in relation to which subsection (1) of this section has effect shall be subject to the following provisions, that is to say.—

(a) land which consists or forms part of a common or open space, or is held for use as allotments, shall not be appropriated except with the consent of the Secretary of State ;

(b) land which has been acquired (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) by an authority to whom this Part of this Act applies, and has been so acquired by that authority in the exercise (directly or indirectly) of compulsory powers, and has not subsequently been appropriated by that authority for any purpose other than that for which it was so acquired, shall not be appropriated by that authority for any other purpose except with the consent of the Minister who, at the time of the appropriation, is the Minister concerned with the function for the purposes of which the land was acquired by the authority.

(3) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any appropriation of land in pursuance of an order under section thirty-nine of the Act of 1947.