The National Grid (Bramford to Twinstead Reinforcement) Order 2024

Construction, alteration and maintenance of streets

17.—(1) Any street (other than any private streets) to be constructed under this Order must be completed to the reasonable satisfaction of the street authority and must, unless otherwise agreed with the street authority, be maintained to the same condition (including any culverts or other structures laid under that part of the highway) by and at the expense of the undertaker for a period of 12 months from its completion and, at the expiry of that period, by and at the expense of the street authority.

(2) Where a street is altered or diverted under this Order, the altered or diverted part of the street must be completed to the reasonable satisfaction of the street authority and must, unless otherwise agreed with the street authority, be maintained (including any culverts or other structures laid under that part of the highway) by and at the expense of the undertaker for a period of 12 months from its completion and, at the expiry of that period, by and at the expense of the street authority.

(3) Where new land not previously part of the public highway is to form part of the public highway further to the provisions of this Order it must, unless otherwise agreed with the street authority, be deemed as dedicated as part of the public highway on the expiry of the period of 12 months from its completion.

(4) In any action against the undertaker in respect of loss or damage resulting from any failure by it to maintain a street under this article, it is a defence (without prejudice to any other defence or the application of the law relating to contributory negligence) to prove that the undertaker had taken such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure that the part of the street to which the action relates was not dangerous to traffic.

(5) For the purposes of a defence under paragraph (4), the court must in particular have regard to the following matters—

(a) the character of the street and the traffic which was reasonably to be expected to use it;

(b) the standard of maintenance appropriate for a street of that character and used by such traffic;

(c) the state of repair in which a reasonable person would have expected to find the street;

(d) whether the undertaker knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that the condition of the part of the street to which the action relates was likely to cause danger to users of the street; and

(e) where the undertaker could not reasonably have been expected to repair that part of the street before the cause of action arose, what warning notices of its condition had been displayed,

but for the purposes of such a defence it is not relevant to prove that the undertaker had arranged for a competent person to carry out or supervise the maintenance of the part of the street to which the action relates unless it is also proved that the undertaker had given the competent person proper instructions with regard to the maintenance of the street and that the competent person had carried out those instructions.

(6) In determining who is the street authority in relation to a street for the purposes of Part 3 of the 1991 Act, any obligation of the undertaker to maintain the street under paragraph (1) or (2) should be disregarded.