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Compulsory Purchase Orders and Compensation |
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The exercise of Compulsory Purchase Powers is where a Public Authority, (most commonly a Council or the Scottish Executive) acquire private land as a means of obtaining land suitable for delivering social and economic change, underpinned by the grant of planning consent. |
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Compulsory Purchase Powers are often taken for road schemes or for town centre regeneration schemes. The acquiring authority ("Promoter") of the Compulsory Purchase Order is required to serve notice on all affected landowners and occupiers. |
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Objections to a Compulsory Purchase Order made by landowners or occupiers must be considered at a Public Inquiry. The purpose of the Public Inquiry is to consider the merits of the scheme. Very often the dispute centres not around these merits but on the amount of compensation payable, the assessment of which is a complex and specialised field.
Compensation can be significant where the land taken is needed to enable a valuable development (e.g. shopping centre) to proceed. The Lands Tribunal for Scotland adjudicates on matters of disputed compensation but any such application to them must be made within strict time limits.
Effective negotiation and formal alternative dispute resolution can often bring a quicker and more cost effective resolution to both landowners and the Promoter, a better price being payable to the landowner for earlier release of the land required.
We have a strong track record in advising on all matter relating to Compulsory Purchase Orders, including the submission of objections to Compulsory Purchase Orders and appearing at Public Inquiries. We always aim to achieve a solution with the minimum cost and inconvenience.
Recent Experience
· Acting for Kwik-Fit in a compulsory purchase dispute before the Lands Tribunal over sites in Stirling and Hamilton.
· Acting in a compulsory purchase dispute over land used for the extension of the M74 motorway in Glasgow.
· Acting in a compulsory purchase dispute over land purchased for a new route for the M8 motorway near Bellshill, Lanarkshire.
For more information contact Alastair McKie |
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