5(1)The Secretary of State shall not confirm an order under section 257 which extinguishes a right of way over land under, in, on, over, along or across which there is any apparatus belonging to or used by statutory undertakers for the purposes of their undertaking, unless the undertakers have consented to the confirmation of the order.
(2)Any such consent may be given subject to the condition that there are included in the order such provisions for the protection of the undertakers as they may reasonably require.
(3)The consent of statutory undertakers to any such order shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(4)Any question arising under this paragraph whether the withholding of consent is unreasonable, or whether any requirement is reasonable, shall be determined by whichever Minister is the appropriate Minister in relation to the statutory undertakers concerned.