Keith Davies reports on store wars in Wolverhampton
When a public body obtains a compulsory purchase order (CPO), its usual purpose involves development of the land purchased. Since the Revolution of 1689, and the Dockyards Act 1708, hundreds, if not thousands, of authorising Acts, have adorned the statute book. The advent of planning legislation in 1909 added planning control to compulsory acquisition, which can never of itself be an “acquisition for planning purposes”.
Three things need to be distinguished:
- lawful purposes for which land may be acquired;
- planning permission enabling any development to be carried out; and
- lawful authorisation if particular land is to be purchased compulsorily.
These requirements are all public law and each public body concerned must be acting within its jurisdiction; if not, it will be vulnerable to judicial review proceedings.
If a local authority proposes to acquire land in its area “for planning purposes”, s 226 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) (replacing earlier statutes dating back to the wartime Town and Country Planning Act 1944) empowers the secretary of state to authorise compulsory purchase.
