Requisitioned Land and War Works Act 1945

PART VI Temporary Powers as to Maintenance, Use and Removal of Works, &c.

28 Maintenance and use of works and continuance in possession.

(1) Where government war works have been constructed on any land, any Minister may maintain and use, or authorise the maintenance and use of, those works for the purposes of the public service or for any purpose for which they were maintained or used in the exercise of emergency powers.

(2) Any Minister may retain or authorise the retention of possession of any land which (whether by virtue of an exercise of emergency powers or otherwise) is in his possession or in that of any person who is occupying or using it under his authority, notwithstanding the determination of any other right thereto, and, where possession of any land is retained under this subsection, any Minister may use it or authorise its use for the purposes of the public service or in any manner in which it was being used immediately before possession was so retained:

Provided that where notice to treat has been given, the Minister may authorise the use of the land by any person, in any manner and for any purpose, but, where he gives an authority by virtue of this proviso, the power conferred by subsection (2) of section five of the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919, to withdraw a notice to treat shall not be exercisable.

(3) In connection with the use of any works or land under this section—

(a) any person having the use of the works or land may continue to exercise and enjoy all such rights and advantages as, immediately before the use under this section began, were, by agreement or otherwise, being exercised or enjoyed in connection with the use of the works or land for war purposes by the person then having the use thereof (including, but without prejudice to the generality of the preceding words, rights and advantages as to the taking of Water, whether for the purposes of a water undertaking or for other purposes); and

(b) any orders made under Defence Regulations in connection with the use of the works or land for war purposes and in force immediately before the use under this section began (including, but without prejudice to the generality of the preceding words, any order authorising the taking of water, whether for the purposes of a water undertaking or for other purposes) shall continue in force in relation to the works or land except in so far as revoked in relation thereto by order of the Minister using, or, as the case may be, authorising the use of, the works or land.

29 Removal of works and restoration of land.

(1) Where government war work has been done on any land, or where the value of any land has been diminished by damage caused by government war use thereof, any Minister, or any person acting under the authority of any Minister, shall have power and be deemed always to have had power, as against all persons interested in the land—

(a) to remove any works constructed or other thing placed on, over or below the surface of the land in the course of the work; and

(b) for the purpose of restoring the land wholly or partly to the condition in which it was before the work was done or the damage was caused, to do such work on the land as he thinks fit; and

(c) for the purpose of exercising those powers, to enter upon any land of which he is not in possession:

Provided that—

(i) the powers conferred by this subsection shall not be exercisable in relation to any works in respect of the value of which an amount has been paid under Part II of this Act to a Minister in pursuance of a report of the Commission; and

(ii) after the passing of this Act, entry upon any land shall not be demanded as a right, under paragraph (c) of this subsection unless reasonable notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier of the land; and

(iii) where in connection with any works an agreement in writing has, whether at, before or after the time of the construction thereof been made by or on behalf of any Minister with any person then having an interest in the land on which the work is constructed, which contains a specific provision that the works should belong to that person permanently, the said powers shall not be exercisable in relation to those works so as to defeat that provision of that agreement.

(2) Where any land is damaged in the exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, the Minister shall pay such compensation to the persons interested in the land as- may be just, and any dispute -as to the compensation payable shall be decided by the General Claims Tribunal constituted under the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939

(3) Without prejudice to the operation, as respects the war period, of any Defence Regulation, no person (other than a constable or servant of His Majesty acting in the course of his duty as such) shall, except with permission granted by or on behalf of a Minister, remove, alter or tamper with anything which a Minister has power to remove Under this section.

30 Duration of powers under Part VI.

(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, the right to exercise the powers conferred by this Part of this Act shall cease on the expiration of two years from the end of the war period.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section but subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, any right to exercise the said powers which arises by reason of anything done on land while in the possession of a Minister, or of a person who is occupying or using it under the authority of a Minister, shall not be available when the land is no longer in the possession of a Minister or any such person:

Provided that where any land is in the possession of a Minister or of a person who is occupying or using it under the authority of a Minister, that Minister may, by a notice served on the person for the time being entitled to receive any rent or compensation in the nature of rent in respect of possession of the land by the Minister or the person so occupying or using it, and published in such manner as the Minister thinks best adapted for informing any other persons affected, reserve the rights conferred by the last preceding section in relation to that land, and where such a notice is given this subsection shall not apply to the said rights.

(3) Without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this section but subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, where work has been done on any land while that land was not in the possession of a Minister or of a person who was occupying or using it under the authority of a Minister, any right to exercise the powers conferred by the last preceding section which arises by reason of the doing of the work shall not be available after any person has, by virtue of a notice given under paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section three of the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939, or by virtue of any agreement, become entitled to receive from the Crown a lump sum by way of compensation in respect of the doing of the work.

(4) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this section, where proceedings commenced before the expiration of two years from the end of the war period for the acquisition of any land by a Minister or a local authority or combination of local authorities are abandoned, the right to exercise the powers conferred by the last preceding section shall remain available until the expiration of six months from the abandonment:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply where the abandonment is by virtue of the giving of an undertaking under Part II of this Act in pursuance of a report of the Commission.

For the purposes of this subsection, proceedings for the acquisition of land shall be deemed to have been commenced if notice to treat for the acquisition thereof has been given or if proposals for the acquisition thereof have been published under Part II of this Act.

31 Compensation and adaptation of enactments.

(1) The powers conferred by this Part of this Act shall be deemed for the purposes of the following enactments, that is to say—

(a) the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939; and

(b) the Landlord and Tenant (Requisitioned Land) Acts, 1942 and 1944; and

(c) any provisions of the [6 & 7 Geo. 6. c. 21.] War Damage Act, 1943, referring to requisitioned land or to work done on land in the exercise of emergency powers,

to be powers exercisable by virtue of Defence Regulations.

(2) In relation to the exercise of the powers so conferred, the period mentioned in subsection (1) of section one of the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939, shall extend to the end of the period for which the powers so conferred are exercisable and, where possession of any land is retained in pursuance of the powers so conferred, the retention of possession by virtue of those powers and the original taking and retention of the land apart from those powers shall be treated for the purposes of section two of that Act as being one transaction, and the references in the said section two to the period for which the possession of the land is retained shall be construed accordingly.

(3) Where, if the powers so conferred had been exercised under Defence Regulations, either—

(a) compensation would, by virtue of any Defence Regulation, be payable in respect of the exercise thereof otherwise than- under the Compensation (Defence) Act, 1939; or

(b) compensation in respect of the exercise thereof would have been payable under that Act, but subject to modifications,

the like compensation shall be payable in respect of the exercise thereof, and, so far as respects the exercise thereof, any Defence Regulation providing for the payment of the compensation or for the modifications, as the case may be, shall continue in force notwithstanding that it has expired for all other purposes, whether by virtue of the expiration of the [2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 62.] Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939, or otherwise.

(4) This section shall be deemed always to have had effect.