Appendix 15/1: Powers to acquire land to mitigate the effect of the construction and use of highways
The Valuation Office Agency`s technical manual covering all aspects of compulsory purchase and compensation.
‘Notes on the Preparation, Drafting and Submission of Compulsory Purchase Orders for Highway Schemes and Car Parks for which the Secretary of State for Transport is the Confirming Authority’
Paragraph 81
Power to Acquire Land Outside the Highway Boundary
Section 246 of the Act provides the power to acquire compulsorily (or by agreement) outside the proposed boundary of highway in order to reduce the adverse effects of the existence or use of the highway on its surroundings, as follows:
(i) Section 246(1) provides that highway authorities may acquire land compulsorily for the purpose of mitigating any adverse effect which the existence or use of highways constructed or improved by them (or proposed to be constructed or improved by them) has or will have on the surroundings of those highways. This power enables the acquisition of land needed to maintain or improve the environment of areas adjacent to the road. Having acquired such land, highway authorities may make suitable use of it under the provisions of section 282 or they may dispose of it under existing powers. (The expression ‘for the purpose of mitigating any adverse effect’ is considered to extend to an incidental improvement of the environment.) It is considered desirable that wherever possible section 246(1) land should he included in the same compulsory purchase order as the land required for the highway itself and that the acquiring authority should be in a position to show what they intend to do with the land (eg what works under section 282 they propose to carry out (see (vi) below). Compulsory acquisition of land under section 246(1) must begin before the opening of the new or improved highways.
(ii) Section 246(5) provides that where under the powers of this clause a highway authority acquire land forming part of a common, open space or fuel or field garden allotment, and other land is required for the purpose of being given in exchange, the authority may acquire that other land compulsorily or by agreement.
(iii) Section 246(4) defines, for the purpose of section 246(3), when the acquisition of any land acquired compulsorily is begun, as being on the date when the notice is published of the making of a compulsory purchase order; but if compulsory purchase procedure was begun within the time limited by section 246(3) and not proceeded with, any subsequent compulsory acquisition of the land concerned will continue to be treated as begun within the time limited by section 246(3).
(iv) Section 250(1) makes it clear that the expression ‘highway land acquisition powers’ includes the power to acquire land under section 246. This means that the powers to acquire rights compulsorily under section 250, the power to make a CPO to clear title under section 260, the provisions relating to concurrent procedure in section 257 and the power to make or confirm a compulsory purchase order in part under Section 259 will apply to the acquisition of land under section 246.
(v) Section 246(7) makes it clear that reference to construction or improvement of highways in section 246 includes references to construction or improvement pursuant to side roads orders. An authority constructing or improving a road pursuant to a side roads order may therefore acquire land under section 246 for mitigating the adverse effects which the side road will have on the environment.
(vi) Section 282 enables highway authorities to carry out works for mitigating the adverse effects which the existence or use of a highway has or will have on the surroundings of the highway. This means that there are specific powers to erect physical barriers (such as walls, screens or mounds of earth) alongside roads in order to reduce the effects of traffic noise on people living nearby. Section 282(2) ensures that it is possible for the appearance of any earth mounds or other landscaped works provided under section 282(1) to be improved by planting. The provision under section 282(3) that a highway authority may develop or redevelop any land acquired by them under section 246 enables the construction of buildings alongside new or improved roads: such buildings may be constructed so as to act as a barrier against traffic noise or otherwise for the mitigation of adverse effects of the highway on its surroundings.