Highways Act 1980

• Citation: 1980 c. 66
• Sections: 650

Section 1 Highway authorities: general provision.

(1) The Minister is , subject to subsection (1A), the highway authority for—

(a) any highway which is a trunk road;

(aa) any special road provided by him;

(b) any highway as respects which an order made by him under any enactment expressly provides that he is to be the highway authority for it but does not direct that the highway is to be a trunk road;

(c) any highway (not falling within paragraph (a) above) transferred to him by an order under section 14 or 18 below;

(d) any other highway being a highway constructed by him, except where by virtue of section 2, 4(3) or 5(2) below or by virtue of some other enactment a local highway authority are the highway authority for it or where by means of an order made under section 14 or 18 below the highway is transferred to a local highway authority.

(e) any highway for which he becomes the highway authority by virtue of section 2 of the Infrastructure Act 2015.

(1A) A strategic highways company is the highway authority for—

(a) any highway specified in the appointment of the company in accordance with Part 1 of the Infrastructure Act 2015;

(b) any highway that is directed to become a trunk road and for which that company is directed to be highway authority under section 10;

(c) any special road provided by the company;

(d) any highway for which an order made under any enactment expressly provides for that company to be the highway authority;

(e) any highway transferred to the company by an order under section 14 or 18;

(f) any other highway constructed by the company except where—

(i) by virtue of section 4(3) or 5(2) or some other enactment, a local highway authority is the highway authority for it; or

(ii) by means of an order under section 14 or 18 the highway is transferred to a local highway authority.

Paragraphs (a), (b) and (f) do not apply where a local highway authority becomes the highway authority by virtue of section 2.

(2) Outside Greater London the council of a county or metropolitan district are the highway authority for all highways in the county or, as the case may be, the district , whether or not maintainable at the public expense, which are not highways for which under subsection (1) or (1A) above the Minister or a strategic highways company is the highway authority.

(2A) Transport for London is the highway authority for all GLA roads.

(3) The council of a London borough or the Common Council are the highway authority for all highways in the borough or, as the case may be, in the City, whether or not maintainable at the public expense, which are not for the time being GLA roads or . . . highways for which under subsection (1) or (1A) above the Minister or a strategic highways company is the highway authority.

(3A) In Wales the council of a county or county borough are the highway authority for all highways in the county or, as the case may be, the county borough, whether or not maintainable at the public expense, which are not highways for which the Minister is the highway authority under subsection (1) above.

(4) Subsection (2) above is subject, as respects any highway outside Greater London for which the Minister or a strategic highways company is not the highway authority under subsection (1) or (1A) above, to any provision of this Act, or of any order made under this or any other Act, by virtue of which a council other than the council of the county or, as the case may be, the metropolitan district in which the highway is situated are the highway authority therefor.

(5) Subsection (3A) above is subject to any provision of this Act, or of any order made under this or any other Act, by virtue of which a council other than the Welsh council for the area in which the highway is situated are the highway authority.

Section 2 Highway authority for road which ceases to be a trunk road.

(1) Where an order made under section 10 below directs that a trunk road shall cease to be a trunk road, then, as from the date specified in that behalf in the order, the following authority, that is to say—

(a) where the road is situated outside Greater London, the council of the county or metropolitan district , and

(b) where the road is situated in Greater London, Transport for London,

shall become the highway authority for the road.

(2) In the case of a special road provided by the Minister or by a strategic highways company , subsection (1) above has effect subject to any provision of the order directing that the Minister or the company shall continue to be the highway authority for the road.

(3) Where Transport for London becomes the highway authority for a road by virtue of subsection (1) above, the road shall become a GLA road.

Section 3 Highway authority for approaches to and parts of certain bridges.

(1) Where a bridge carries a highway for which the Minister or a strategic highways company is not the highway authority and part of the bridge is situated in one county and part in another the highway authority for the highway carried by the bridge and the approaches thereto is such one of the councils of those counties as may be agreed between them before such a day as the Minister may by order made by statutory instrument appoint or, in default of such agreement, as may be determined by the Minister.

(2) Where the Minister has made a determination under subsection (1) above the determination—

(a) may be varied at the request of the council of either of the counties concerned; and

(b) shall be varied to give effect to any request made jointly to the Minister by those councils;

and any such variation shall take effect on the 1st April falling not less than 3 months, and not more than 15 months, after the date on which the determination is varied.

(3) Where a bridge carries a highway for which the Minister or a strategic highways company is not the highway authority and subsection (1) above does not apply, but some part of one or more of the approaches to the bridge lies in a county different from the bridge itself, the highway authority for the whole of that approach or those approaches is the council of the county in which the bridge is situated.

(4) For the purposes of this section, the approaches to a bridge consist of so much of the highway or highways on either side of the bridge as is situated within 100 yards of either end of the bridge.

Section 4 Agreement for exercise by Minister or strategic highways company of certain functions of local highway authority as respects highway affected by construction, etc. of trunk road.

(1) The Minister or a strategic highways company, whichever is the highway authority for a trunk road (“ the trunk road authority ”) and a local highway authority may enter into an agreement for providing, in relation to a highway specified in the agreement, being a highway that crosses or enters the route of that trunk road or is or will be otherwise affected by the construction or improvement of that trunk road , that any functions specified in the agreement, being functions of improvement exercisable as respects that highway by the local highway authority, shall be exercisable by the trunk road authority on such terms and subject to such conditions (if any) as may be so specified.

(2) Where under an agreement made under this section any function of a local highway authority is exercisable by the trunk road authority , then, for the purpose of exercising that function the trunk road authority shall have the same powers under this Act (including highway land acquisition powers) as the local highway authority have for that purpose, and in exercising that function and those powers the trunk road authority shall have the like rights and be subject to the like liabilities as that authority.

(3) Where for purposes connected with any function exercisable ... under an agreement made under this section the trunk road authority proposes to construct a new highway, every council (other than the council of a non-metropolitan district) in whose area the proposed highway is situated shall be a party to the agreement and the agreement shall provide for a local highway authority specified in the agreement to become the highway authority for the highway on its completion.

(4) An agreement under this section made between the trunk road authority and any other highway authority may provide for the payment of contributions—

(a) by the trunk road authority to that other authority in respect of any additional liabilities imposed on that other authority in consequence of the provisions of the agreement;

(b) to the trunk road authority by that other authority in respect of liabilities so imposed on the trunk road authority , being liabilities which would otherwise have fallen to be discharged by that other authority;

and may also provide for the determination by arbitration of disputes as to the payment of such contributions.

(5) Any local highway authority who are a party to an agreement made under this section may contribute towards any expenses incurred by the trunk road authority in executing any works to which the agreement relates.

Section 5 Agreement for local highway authority to maintain and improve certain highways constructed or to be constructed by Minister or strategic highways company .

(1) The local highway authority may by agreement with the Minister or a strategic highways company undertake the maintenance and improvement of a highway in the local highway authority's area, being a highway (other than a trunk road) which the Minister or the company proposes to construct or has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, constructed.

(2) Where an agreement is made under this section the council who are a party to the agreement shall, on such date as may be provided by the agreement, become the highway authority for the highway to which the agreement relates.

Section 6 Delegation etc. of functions with respect to trunk roads.

(1) The Minister or a strategic highways company may by agreement with a county council, a metropolitan district council , or a London borough council delegate to that council all or any of his or its functions (including functions under a local or private Act) with respect to the maintenance and improvement of, and other dealing with, any trunk road or any land which does not form part of a trunk road but which has been acquired by him or it in connection with a trunk road under section 239(2) or (4) or section 246 below;. . .

(1A) The Minister or a strategic highways company shall not delegate functions to a council under subsection (1) above—

(a) with respect to a trunk road or land outside that council's area but within a non-metropolitan county or London borough, except with the consent of the council of that county or borough;

(b) with respect to a trunk road or land outside that council's area but within a metropolitan district except after consultation with the council of that district.

(1B) The Minister or a strategic highways company shall not delegate functions to a council under subsection (1) above with respect to a trunk road or land outside that council's area but in Wales except after consultation with the Welsh council in whose area it is situated; and subsection (1A) does not apply in relation to a trunk road or land in Wales.

(2) A council shall, in the exercise of any functions delegated to them under subsection (1) above, act as agents for the Minister or a strategic highways company and in accordance with such conditions as may be attached to the delegation, and among such conditions there shall be included the following—

(a) that the works to be executed and the expenditure to be incurred by the council in the discharge of the delegated functions shall be subject to the approval of the Minister or a strategic highways company ;

(b) that the council shall comply with any requirement of the Minister or a strategic highways company as to the manner in which any such works are to be carried out, and with any directions of the Minister or a strategic highways company as to the terms of contracts to be entered into for the purposes of the discharge of the delegated functions; and

(c) that any such works shall be completed to the satisfaction of the Minister or a strategic highways company .

(3) If at any time the Minister or a strategic highways company is satisfied that a trunk road or land with respect to which functions are delegated under subsection (1) above is not in proper repair and condition, he or the company may give notice to the council requiring them to place it in proper repair and condition within such time as may be specified in the notice, and if the notice is not complied with the Minister or a strategic highways company may do anything that seems to him or the company necessary to place the road or land in proper repair and condition.

(4) A delegation to a council under subsection (1) above may be determined by notice given by the Minister or a strategic highways company to the council during the first 9 months of any calendar year, or the functions so delegated may be relinquished by a notice given by the council to the Minister or a strategic highways company during any such period; and the notice shall take effect as from 1st April in the calendar year following that in which it is given.

(5) The Minister or a strategic highways company may enter into an agreement with a county council, a metropolitan district council or a London borough council—

(a) for the construction of a trunk road, or

(b) for the carrying out by the council of any work of improvement of, or other dealing with, any trunk road or any such land as is mentioned in subsection (1) above;

and subsection (2) above applies to the discharge of the functions of a council under any such agreement and to the conditions to be included in any such agreement as it applies to the discharge of functions delegated under subsection (1) above to any such council and to the conditions to be attached to any such delegation.

(6) Where—

(a) any functions have been delegated by the Minister or a strategic highways company to a county council under subsection (1) above, or

(b) the Minister or a strategic highways company has entered into an agreement with a county council under subsection (5) above,

the county council (the “ responsible council ”) may, with the consent of the Minister or a strategic highways company , enter into arrangements with a district council or Welsh council (the “ contracting council ”) for the carrying out by the contracting council, in accordance with the arrangements, of such of the delegated functions or, as the case may be, of the functions to which the agreement relates as may be specified in the arrangements;. . .

(6A) No arrangements shall be entered into under subsection (6) above for the carrying out by a contracting council of any functions—

(a) with respect to a trunk road or land outside their area but within a non-metropolitan district, except with the consent of the council of the non-metropolitan district;

(b) with respect to a trunk road or land outside their area but within a metropolitan district, except after consultation with the council of the metropolitan district.

(c) with respect to a trunk road or land in Wales but outside the area—

(i) of the responsible council; and

(ii) of the contracting council,

except after consultation with the Welsh council in whose area the trunk road or land is situated.

(7) Plant or materials belonging to a council by whom functions fall to be exercised by virtue of a delegation, or agreement or arrangements under this section may be used by them for the purposes of those functions subject to the terms of the delegation, or agreement or arrangements.

(8) Nothing in this section limits the power of the Minister or a strategic highways company to enter into and carry into effect agreements with any person for any purpose connected with the construction, improvement or maintenance of, or other dealing with, a trunk road or otherwise connected with his or the company's functions relating to trunk roads under this or any other Act; but no such agreement shall provide for the delegation of powers or duties of the Minister or a strategic highways company except in accordance with

(a) the provisions of this section; or

(b) the provisions of any order made under section 69 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994.

Section 8 Agreements between local highway authorities and strategic highways companies for doing of certain works.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, local highway authorities and strategic highways companies may enter into agreements with other such authorities and companies for or in relation to the construction, reconstruction, alteration, improvement or maintenance of a highway for which any party to the agreement are the highway authority.

(2) An agreement under this section may provide, in relation to a highway specified in the agreement, being a highway for which one of the parties to the agreement are the highway authority, that any functions specified in the agreement, being functions exercisable as respects that highway by the highway authority therefor, shall be exercisable by some other party to the agreement on such terms and subject to such conditions (if any) as may be so specified.

(3) Where under an agreement made under this section any function of the highway authority for a highway is exercisable by another highway authority, then, for the purpose of exercising that function that other highway authority shall have the same powers under this Act (including highway land acquisition powers) as the highway authority for the highway have for that purpose, and in exercising that function and those powers they shall have the like rights and be subject to the like liabilities as that authority.

(4) The council of a county (other than one in Wales) may not enter into an agreement under this section with the council of another county or county borough unless their areas adjoin each other ; and the council of a metropolitan district may not enter into an agreement under this section with the council of another metropolitan district or of a county or county borough unless the districts are in the same county or in counties which adjoin each other or, as the case may be, the county in which the district is situated and the other county or, as the case may be, county borough adjoin each other. .

(5) Expenses incurred in pursuance of an agreement made under this section shall be borne for the parties to the agreement in such proportions as may be determined by the agreement.

Section 9 Seconding of staff etc.

(1) A council may enter into an agreement with the Minister or a strategic highways company for placing at his or the company's disposal for the purposes of his or the company's functions relating to highways, on such terms as may be provided by the agreement, the services of persons employed by the council and any premises, equipment and other facilities under the control of the council.

(2) For superannuation purposes service rendered by a person whose services are placed at the disposal of the Minister or a strategic highways company in pursuance of this section is service rendered to the council by whom that person is employed.

Section 10 General provision as to trunk roads.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, all such highways and proposed highways as immediately before the commencement of this Act were trunk roads within the meaning of the Highways Act 1959 continue to be, and to be known as, trunk roads.

(2) The Minister shall keep under review the national system of routes for through traffic in England and Wales, and if he is satisfied after taking into consideration the requirements of local and national planning, including the requirements of agriculture, that it is expedient for the purpose of extending, improving or reorganising that system either—

(a) that any highway

or any proposed highway—

(i) to be constructed by the Minister or a strategic highways company , or

(ii) in relation to which the Minister has entered or proposes to enter into an agreement under section 38(3A),

should become a trunk road, or

(b) that any trunk road should cease to be a trunk road,

he may by order direct that that highway or proposed highway shall become, or, as the case may be, that that road shall cease to be, a trunk road as from such date as may be specified in that behalf in the order.

(2A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) The power of the Minister under subsection (2) to direct that a highway or proposed highway shall become a trunk road shall include power to direct that a highway or proposed highway which he considers suitable for the purpose of relieving a main carriageway of the trunk road from local traffic shall become part of the trunk road, whether or not the highway or proposed highway is separated from the remainder of the road by intervening land.

(3A) The power under subsection (2) to direct that a highway or proposed highway become a trunk road includes the power to direct that a strategic highways company is the highway authority for that trunk road.

(4) . . .

(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the power under subsection (2) to direct that a proposed highway shall become a trunk road may be exercised in relation to any cycle track or footpath proposed to be constructed . . . on land separated by intervening land from the trunk road in connection with which it is to be used.

(4A) A strategic highways company may by order direct—

(a) that a highway for which the company is the highway authority is to become a trunk road,

(b) in relation to a highway in the company’s area for which the company is not the highway authority, that—

(i) the highway is to become a trunk road, and

(ii) the company is to become the highway authority for it, or

(c) that a trunk road for which the company is the highway authority is to cease to be a trunk road.

(4B) In subsection (4A)(b)—

(a) the reference to the company’s area is to the area in respect of which it was appointed (see section 2(1) of the Infrastructure Act 2015), and

(b) the reference to a highway for which the company is not the highway authority includes a proposed highway to be constructed by the company.

(4C) A strategic highways company may make an order under subsection (4A) only if it is satisfied that the order is expedient for the purpose of extending, improving or reorganising the national system of routes for through traffic in England and Wales.

(4D) A strategic highways company may be satisfied as mentioned in subsection (4C) only after taking into consideration the requirements of local and national planning, including the requirements of agriculture.

(4E) An order under subsection (4A)—

(a) must specify the date on which it takes effect, and

(b) must be confirmed by the Secretary of State.

(4F) Subsections (3) and (4) apply in relation to the power in subsection (4A) as they apply in relation to the power in subsection (2).

(4G) The powers in this section are subject to section 33(4) of the Planning Act 2008 (exclusion of powers to make or confirm orders in relation to highways for which development consent required).

(5) Parts I and III of Schedule 1 to this Act have effect as to the making of an order under this section; and Schedule 2 to this Act has effect as to the validity and date of operation of any such order.

(6) If objection to an order proposed to be made under this section is duly made in accordance with Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act by a council who are responsible for the maintenance of a highway to which the order relates, or who will become so responsible by virtue of the order, and is not withdrawn, the order shall be subject to special parliamentary procedure.

(7) If an order under this section directing that a proposed highway shall become a trunk road is revoked or varied by a subsequent order made at any time before the date on which the highway is opened for the purposes of through traffic, the revoking or varying order shall not be deemed for the purposes of section 2 above to be an order directing that a trunk road shall cease to be a trunk road.

(8) In addition to the case where a trunk road ceases to be a trunk road by virtue of an order made under this section, a trunk road shall cease to be a trunk road if the road is transferred from the Minister or a strategic highways company to some other highway authority to become part of a special road provided by that authority.

(9) No highway which is within the City shall be, or become, a trunk road, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, none of the following bridges, that is to say, Blackfriars Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Tower Bridge, and no highway carried by any of those bridges, shall be, or become, a trunk road.

Section 11 Local and private Act functions with respect to trunk roads.

(1) As from the date when a highway becomes a trunk road, any functions of construction, maintenance or improvement exercisable as respects that highway by a council under a local or private Act are to be deemed to have become exercisable by the Minister alone or a strategic highways company alone, whichever is highway authority for the trunk road (“ the trunk road authority ”), and while the highway remains a trunk road they shall continue to be so exercisable.

(2) Where the Minister is satisfied that there has been conferred on a council by a local or private Act a function substantially similar to one conferred by a provision of this Act specified in Schedule 3 to this Act, he may, after consultation with the council, by order direct that, in relation to a trunk road, the function conferred by the local or private Act is to be exercisable in accordance with the following conditions:

(a) where the provision of the local or private Act is similar to a provision of this Act specified in Part I of the said Schedule 3, that it is to be exercisable by the trunk road authority only;

(b) where the provision of the local or private Act is similar to a provision of this Act specified in Part II of the said Schedule, that, in so far as it is exercisable by a council, it is to be exercisable by that council. . . , as well as by the trunk road authority ;

(c) where the provision of the local or private Act is similar to a provision of this Act specified in Part III of the said Schedule, that, in so far as it is exercisable by a council, it is to be exercisable by that council with the consent of the trunk road authority . . . , as well as by the trunk road authority .

(3) Where the Minister makes an order under this section in relation to a function conferred by a provision of a local or private Act, and the provision of this Act by which a function substantially similar to the first-mentioned function is conferred is, in relation to a trunk road, subject to any modification, the provision of the local or private Act shall, in relation to a trunk road, be subject to a similar modification, and the Minister may by the same order specify the modification to which the provision of the local or private Act is accordingly to be subject.

Section 12 General provision as to principal and classified roads.

(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, all such highways or proposed highways as immediately before the commencement of this Act—

(a) were principal roads for the purposes of any enactment or instrument which refers to roads or highways classified by the Minister as principal roads, either by virtue of having been so classified under section 27(2) of the Local Government Act 1966 (which is replaced by subsection (3) below), or by virtue of being treated as such in accordance with section 40(1) of the Local Government Act 1974,

(b) were (whether or not they also fall within paragraph (a) above) classified roads for the purposes of any enactment or instrument which refers to roads classified by the Minister (but does not specifically refer to their classification as principal roads), either by virtue of having been so classified under section 27(2) of the said Act of 1966, or by virtue of being treated as such in accordance with section 40(1) of the said Act of 1974, or

(c) were classified roads for the purposes of any enactment or instrument by virtue of being treated as such in accordance with section 27(4) of the said Act of 1966,

continue to be, and to be known as, principal roads or, as the case may be, classified roads (or both principal roads and classified roads of a category other than principal roads, in the case of highways falling within both paragraph (a) and paragraph (b) above) for the purposes specified in subsection (2) below.

(2) So far as a highway that continues to be a principal or classified road in accordance with subsection (1) above was, immediately before the commencement of this Act, a classified road for the purposes of any enactment repealed and replaced by this Act, it is a classified road for the purposes of the corresponding provision of this Act; and so far as any such highway was immediately before the commencement of this Act a principal or classified road for the purposes of any other enactment, or any instrument, it so continues for the purposes of that enactment or instrument.

(3) The Minister may for the purposes of—

(a) any provision of this Act which refers to classified roads, or

(b) any other enactment or any instrument (whether passed or made before or after the passing of this Act) which refers to highways classified by the Minister,

classify highways or proposed highways, being highways or proposed highways for which local highway authorities are the highway authorities, in such manner as he may from time to time determine after consultation with the highway authorities concerned.

(4) References in any provision hereafter contained in this Act to classified roads are references to—

(a) any highway or proposed highway that for the time being is a classified road for the purposes of that provision by virtue of subsections (1) and (2) above;

(b) any highway or proposed highway that for the time being is classified under subsection (3) above for the purposes of that provision, or for the purposes of enactments that include that provision; and

(c) any highway or proposed highway that for the time being is classified under subsection (3) above as a principal road for the purposes of any enactment or instrument which refers to roads or highways classified by the Minister as principal roads.

Section 13 Power to change designation of principal roads.

(1) The Minister may by order assign some other description to the highways which for the time being are principal roads for the purposes of any enactment or instrument (whether by virtue of section 12(1) and (2) above, or by virtue of having been so classified under section 12(3) above, or otherwise).

(2) If an order is made under subsection (1) above, then, except in so far as the order otherwise provides, any reference to a principal road in any enactment or instrument passed or made before the order is made (including an enactment in this Act) is to be construed as a reference to a highway of the description specified in the order.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) above affects the power of the Minister under section 12(3) above to classify highways or proposed highways in such manner as he may determine after consultation with the highway authority concerned.

Section 14 Powers as respects roads that cross or join trunk or classified roads.

(1) Provision may be made by an order under this section in relation to a trunk road or a classified road, not being, in either case, a special road, for any of the following purposes:—

(a) for authorising the highway authority for the road—

(i) to stop up, divert, improve, raise, lower or otherwise alter a highway that crosses or enters the route of the road or is or will be otherwise affected by the construction or improvement of the road;

(ii) to construct a new highway for purposes concerned with any such alteration as aforesaid or for any other purpose connected with the road or its construction, and to close after such period as may be specified in the order any new highway so constructed for temporary purposes;

(b) for transferring to such other highway authority as may be specified in the order, as from such date as may be so specified, a highway constructed by the highway authority in pursuance of the order or any previous order made under this section;

(c) for any other purpose incidental to the purposes aforesaid;

and references in this section, with respect to an order made thereunder, to “ the road ” and “ the highway authority ” are references to, respectively, the trunk road or, as the case may be, classified road to which the order relates and the highway authority for that road.

(1A) Subsection (1) is subject to section 33(4) of the Planning Act 2008 (exclusion of powers to make or confirm orders in relation to highways for which development consent required) and section 20(3) of the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 (exclusion of powers to make or confirm orders in relation to highways for which infrastructure consent required) .

(2) The provision that may be made pursuant to subsection (1)(c) above in an order under this section that provides for the stopping up or diversion of a highway, includes provision for the preservation of any rights—

(a) of statutory undertakers in respect of any apparatus of theirs which immediately before the date of the order is under, in, on, over, along or across the highway to be stopped up or diverted; . . .

(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) An order under this section—

(a) in relation to a trunk road for which he is the highway authority shall be made by the Minister, and

(b) in any other case shall be made by the highway authority and confirmed by the Minister.

(4) Parts I and III of Schedule 1 to this Act have effect as to the making of an order under this section; and Schedule 2 to this Act has effect as to the validity and date of operation of any such order.

(5) Subject to subsection (4) above, an order under this section relating to a trunk road may come into operation on the same day as the order under section 10 above relating to that road.

(6) No order under this section authorising the stopping up of a highway shall be made or confirmed by the Minister unless he is satisfied that another reasonably convenient route is available or will be provided before the highway is stopped up.

(7) An order under this section may provide for the payment of contributions—

(a) by the highway authority to any other highway authority in respect of any additional liabilities imposed on that other authority in consequence of the order or of any previous order made under this section;

(b) to the highway authority by any other highway authority in respect of any liabilities so imposed on the first-mentioned authority that would otherwise have fallen to be discharged by that other authority;

and may also provide for the determination by arbitration of disputes as to the payment of such contributions.

Section 14A Designation of first GLA roads by Secretary of State.

(1) The Secretary of State may by order designate highways or proposed highways as highways which are to be GLA roads.

(2) Any highway or proposed highway so designated—

(a) shall become a GLA road, and

(b) if it is a trunk road or other highway for which the Secretary of State is the highway authority, shall accordingly cease to be such a road or highway,

on such date as may be specified in that behalf in the order.

(3) Orders under this section may be made or amended at any time before the beginning of the term of office of the first Mayor of London.

Section 14B Orders of the Authority changing what are GLA roads.

(1) The Mayor of London shall keep under review the system of highways and proposed highways in Greater London and the allocation of responsibility for that system between the different local highway authorities.

(2) If the Mayor of London considers it expedient that—

(a) any highway or proposed highway in Greater London, other than a trunk road, should become a GLA road, or

(b) that any GLA road should cease to be such a road and should become a road for which the highway authority is a London borough council or the Common Council,

the Greater London Authority may by order direct that that highway or proposed highway shall become, or (as the case may be) that that road shall cease to be, a GLA road as from such date as may be specified in that behalf in the order.

(3) Where an order under subsection (2) above directs that a highway or proposed highway shall become a GLA road, it shall become such a road as from the date specified in that behalf in the order.

(4) Where an order under subsection (2) above directs that a GLA road shall cease to be such a road, then, as from the date specified in that behalf in the order, the road shall cease to be a GLA road and the following authority, that is to say—

(a) where the road is situated in a London borough, the council for the London borough, and

(b) where the road is situated in the City, the Common Council,

shall become the highway authority for the road.

(5) An order under this section shall be of no effect unless—

(a) it is made with the consent of the relevant highway authority; or

(b) if that consent is refused, it is confirmed (with or without modification) by the Secretary of State.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5) above, the relevant highway authority is—

(a) in the case of an order directing that a highway or proposed highway shall become a GLA road, the authority which is the highway authority for the highway or proposed highway; and

(b) in the case of an order directing that a GLA road shall cease to be such a road, the authority which will become the highway authority for the road in consequence of the order.

Section 14C Certification and records of GLA roads.

(1) A certificate by or on behalf of Transport for London that any highway or proposed highway is, or is not, for the time being a GLA road shall be evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.

(2) A certificate under subsection (1) above may describe the highway or proposed highway in question by reference to a map.

(3) Transport for London shall prepare and maintain a record of the highways which are for the time being GLA roads.

(4) The record required to be prepared and maintained under subsection (3) above may consist of—

(a) a list;

(b) a map; or

(c) a list and a map.

(5) Transport for London shall deposit a copy of that record with the Greater London Authority, each of the London borough councils and the Common Council.

(6) Transport for London, and the Greater London Authority, each of the London borough councils and the Common Council, shall make the record, or (as the case may be) the copies of the record deposited with them, available for inspection by the public at all reasonable hours.

Section 14D Construction of provisions relating to GLA roads.

(1) Any reference in any provision of this Act or any other enactment to a GLA road shall be construed as a reference to a highway or proposed highway in Greater London which is for the time being a GLA road by virtue of—

(a) section 2(3) above;

(b) an order made by the Secretary of State under section 14A above; or

(c) an order made under section 14B above by the Greater London Authority.

(2) The functions conferred or imposed on the Greater London Authority in relation to GLA roads shall be functions of the Authority which are exercisable by the Mayor of London acting on behalf of the Authority.

(3) Subsection (2) above does not apply in relation to any function expressly conferred or imposed on the London Assembly.

Section 16 General provision as to special roads.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, all such highways or proposed highways as immediately before the commencement of this Act were special roads, as being highways or proposed highways provided, or to be provided, in pursuance of a scheme made, or having effect as if made, under section 11 of the Highways Act 1959 (which section is replaced by subsections (3) to (10) below), continue to be, and to be known as, special roads.

(2) Roads that continue to be special roads by virtue of subsection (1) above continue, subject to the provisions of this Act, to be special roads for the use of traffic of the classes for the use of which they were special roads immediately before the commencement of this Act.

(3) A highway authority may be authorised by means of a scheme under this section to provide, along a route prescribed by the scheme, a special road for the use of traffic of any class prescribed thereby.

(3A) Subsection (3) is subject to section 33(4) of the Planning Act 2008 (exclusion of powers to make or confirm schemes in relation to highways for which development consent required) and section 20(3) of the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 (exclusion of powers to make or confirm orders in relation to highways for which infrastructure consent required) .

(4) A reference in this Act to a special road authority is a reference to—

(a) except where paragraph (b) or (c) applies, a highway authority authorised to provide a special road by means of—

(i) a scheme under this section, or

(ii) a scheme referred to in subsection (1);

(b) except where paragraph (c) applies, the highway authority determined to be the special road authority by a jointly submitted scheme under subsection (10);

(c) a strategic highways company, where the company is the highway authority for a special road by virtue of an appointment under Part 1 of the Infrastructure Act 2015.

(5) A special road authorised by a scheme under this section may be provided—

(a) by means of the construction by the special road authority of a new highway along the route prescribed by the scheme or any part thereof;

(b) by means of the appropriation under subsequent provisions in that behalf of this Part of this Act of a highway comprised in that route for which the special road authority are the highway authority;

(c) by means of the transfer to the special road authority under subsequent provisions in that behalf of this Part of this Act of a highway comprised in that route for which they are not the highway authority.

(6) A scheme under this section authorising the provision of a special road shall—

(a) in the case of a road to be provided by the Minister, be made by the Minister; and

(b) in any other case of a road to be provided by a ... highway authority, be made by that authority and confirmed by the Minister.

(7) Parts II and III of Schedule 1 to this Act have effect as to the making of a scheme under this section; and Schedule 2 to this Act has effect as to the validity and date of operation of any such scheme.

(8) Before making or confirming a scheme under this section, the Minister shall give due consideration to the requirements of local and national planning, including the requirements of agriculture.

(9) If objection to a scheme under this section is duly made in accordance with Part II of the said Schedule 1 by the highway authority for a highway comprised in the route of the special road authorised by the scheme, and is not withdrawn, the scheme shall be subject to special parliamentary procedure.

(10) A scheme under this section may be submitted to the Minister jointly by any two or more ... highway authorities, and any such scheme may determine which of those authorities shall be the special road authority for the special road or any part thereof, and may provide—

(a) for the performance by that authority, in relation to the road or that part thereof, of any of the highway functions of any other authority who are party to the application, and

(b) for the making of contributions by that other authority to the special road authority in respect of expenditure incurred in the performance of those functions;

and in relation to a special road provided or to be provided in pursuance of such a scheme, or any part of such a road ....

Section 17 Classification of traffic for purposes of special roads.

(1) Different classes of traffic may be prescribed by a scheme under section 16 above in relation to different parts of the special road to which the scheme relates.

(2) The classes of traffic prescribed by any such scheme shall be prescribed by reference to the classes set out in Schedule 4 to this Act.

(3) The Minister of Transport may by order amend the said Schedule 4 by varying the composition of any class of traffic specified therein or adding a further class of traffic to those so specified, . . .

(4) An amending order may contain provision applying the amendments made by the order to existing schemes (whether made by the Minister or a local highway authority); and in the absence of such provision an amending order does not affect the classes of traffic prescribed in an existing scheme.

In this subsection an “ existing scheme ” means a scheme under section 16 made before the order comes into operation.

Section 18 Supplementary orders relating to special roads.

(1) Provision in relation to a special road may be made by an order under this section for any of the following purposes:—

(a) for appropriating as, or as part of, the special road, as from such date as may be specified in the order, a highway which is comprised in the route prescribed by the scheme authorising the special road and which is a highway for which the special road authority are the highway authority;

(b) for transferring to the special road authority, as from such date as may be specified in the order, a highway which is comprised in the route prescribed by the scheme authorising the special road and which is a highway for which they are not the highway authority;

(c) for authorising the special road authority—

(i) to stop up, divert, improve, raise, lower or otherwise alter a highway that crosses or enters the route of the special road or is or will be otherwise affected by the construction or improvement of the special road;

(ii) to construct a new highway for purposes connected with any such alteration as aforesaid or for any other purpose connected with the special road or its construction, and to close after such period as may be specified in the order any new highway so constructed for temporary purposes;

(d) for transferring to such highway authority as may be specified in the order, as from such date as may be so specified, a highway constructed by the special road authority in pursuance of the order or any previous order made under this section;

(e) for authorising or requiring the special road authority to exercise, either concurrently with or to the exclusion of any local authority, any functions which, apart from the order, would be exercisable by that local authority in relation to the special road other than functions of that authority as local planning authority;

(f) for any other purpose incidental to the purposes aforesaid or otherwise incidental to the construction or maintenance of, or other dealing with, the special road.

(1A) Subsection (1) is subject to section 33(4) of the Planning Act 2008 (exclusion of powers to make or confirm orders in relation to highways for which development consent required) and section 20(3) of the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 (exclusion of powers to make or confirm orders in relation to highways for which infrastructure consent required) .

(2) The provision that may be made pursuant to subsection (1)(f) above in an order under this section that provides for the stopping up or diversion of a highway, includes provision for the preservation of any rights—

(a) of statutory undertakers in respect of any apparatus of theirs which immediately before the date of the order is under, in, on, over, along or across the highway to be stopped up or diverted; . . .

(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) An order under this section making provision in connection with a special road shall—

(a) in the case of a special road provided or to be provided by the Minister be made by the Minister; and

(b) in any other case of a special road provided or to be provided by a ... highway authority, be made by that authority and confirmed by the Minister.

(4) Parts I and III of Schedule 1 to this Act have effect as to the making of an order under this section; and Schedule 2 to this Act has effect as to the validity and date of operation of any such order.

(5) Subject to subsection (4) above, an order under this section may come into operation on the same day as the scheme authorising the special road to which it relates.

(6) No order providing for the appropriation by or transfer to a special road authority of a highway comprised in the route prescribed by the scheme authorising the special road shall be made or confirmed by the Minister under this section unless either—

(a) he is satisfied that another reasonably convenient route is available for traffic other than traffic of the class authorised by the scheme, or will be provided before the date on which the appropriation or transfer takes effect, or

(b) he is satisfied that no such other route is reasonably required for any such other traffic;

and no order authorising the stopping up of a highway shall be made or confirmed by the Minister under this section unless he is satisfied that another reasonably convenient route is available or will be provided before the highway is stopped up.

(7) An order under this section may provide for the payment of contributions—

(a) by a special road authority to any other highway authority in respect of any additional liabilities imposed on that other authority in consequence of the provisions of the order or of any previous order made under this section,

(b) to a special road authority by any other authority in respect of any liabilities so imposed on the special road authority that would otherwise have fallen to be discharged by the other authority,

and may also provide for the determination by arbitration of disputes as to the payment of such contributions.

(8) In this section “ local authority ” means . . . the Common Council and the council of a county, district, London borough, parish or community, and includes the parish meeting of a . . . parish not having a separate parish council.

Section 19 Certain special roads and other highways to become trunk roads.

(1) A special road to be provided by the Minister or a strategic highways company in pursuance of a scheme under section 16 above shall, except so far as it is provided by means of the appropriation or transfer of a highway, become a trunk road on such date as may be specified in the scheme.

(2) A highway (not being a trunk road) which, by means of an order under section 18 above, is appropriated as, or as part of, a special road to be provided by the Minister or a strategic highways company , and a highway which, by means of such an order, is transferred to the Minister or a strategic highways company , shall become a trunk road on the date on which it is so appropriated or is so transferred, as the case may be.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) above have effect subject to any provision of the scheme under section 16 directing that the special road in question or any part of it shall not be a trunk road.

Any such provision does not affect the power of the Minister to make an order under section 10(2)(a) with respect to the special road or part.

Section 21 Extinguishment of rights of statutory undertakers as to apparatus etc. in connection with orders under section 14 or 18 and schemes under section 16.

(1) . . . sections 271 to 274 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 , (power to extinguish rights of statutory undertakers and power of statutory undertakers to remove or re-site apparatus) apply in relation to any land specified in subsection (2) below as they apply in relation to land acquired by a Minister, a local authority or statutory undertakers under Part IX of that Act , or under any other enactment, or appropriated by a local authority for planning purposes; and all such other provisions of that Act as apply for the purposes of those provisions (including sections 279(2) to (4), 280 and 282, which provide for the payment of compensation, and sections 275 to 278 which contain provisions consequential on the extinguishment of any rights under section 271 or 272 ) shall have effect accordingly.

(2) The land referred to in subsection (1) above is—

(a) land acquired or appropriated by a special road authority for the purposes of carrying out any works in pursuance of a scheme under section 16 above or an order under section 18 above;

(b) land forming the site of any part of a highway which is appropriated by or transferred to a special road authority by means of an order under section 18 above;

(c) land over which there subsists or has subsisted a highway the stopping up or diversion of which is or was authorised by an order under section 14 or 18 above.

(3) The provisions of the said Act of 1990 referred to in subsection (1) above have effect, as applied for the purposes of this section—

(a) in relation to any such land as is referred to in subsection (2)(a) or (b) above, subject to the modifications set out in Part I of Schedule 5 to this Act, and

(b) in relation to any such land as is referred to in subsection (2)(c) above, subject to the modifications set out in Part II of that Schedule.

(4) Where any apparatus of public utility undertakers is removed in pursuance of a notice or order given or made under section 271, 272, or 273 of the said Act 1990 , as applied for the purposes of this section in relation to any such land as is specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (2) above, any person who is the owner or occupier of premises to which a supply was given from that apparatus shall be entitled to recover from the special road authority compensation in respect of expenditure reasonably incurred by him, in consequence of the removal, for the purpose of effecting a connection between the premises and any other apparatus from which a supply is given.

(4A) Subsection (4) above shall not apply in the case of the removal of a public sewer but where such a sewer is removed in pursuance of such a notice or order as is mentioned in that subsection, any person who is—

(a) the owner or occupier of premises the drains of which communicated with that sewer; or

(b) the owner of a private sewer which communicated with that sewer,

is entitled to recover from the special road authority compensation in respect of expenditure reasonably incurred by him, in consequence of the removal, for the purpose of making his drain or sewer communicate with any other public sewer or with a private sewage disposal plant.

(5) In this section “ owner ”, in relation to any premises, means a person, other than a mortgagee not in possession, who is for the time being entitled to dispose of the fee simple in the premises, whether in possession or in reversion, and includes also a person holding or entitled to the rents and profits of the premises under a lease the unexpired term of which exceeds three years.

Section 23 Compensation in respect of certain works executed in pursuance of orders under section 14 or 18.

Where, in pursuance of an order under section 14 or 18 above, the Minister, a strategic highways company, a special road authority or a local highway authority, as the case may be, execute in, or with respect to, a highway works which the highway authority for that highway have power to execute under Part V of this Act, the Minister, the strategic highways company, the special road authority or the local highway authority, as the case may be, shall be subject to the like liability to pay compensation to a person who sustains damage by reason of the execution of those works as would be the highway authority for that highway had those works been executed by that authority under the said Part V.

Section 24 Construction of new highways and provision of road-ferries.

(1) The Minister or a strategic highways company may ... construct new highways; but where he or it proposes to construct a new highway other than—

(a) a trunk road,

(b) a special road,

(c) a highway the construction of which is authorised by an order relating to a trunk road under section 14 above or an order under section 18 above, or

(d) a highway to be constructed for purposes connected with any function exercisable by him or it under an agreement made under section 4 above,

he or it shall give notice of his or its proposals to, and consider any representations by, every council through whose area the highway will pass.

(1A) Where a strategic highways company proposes to construct a highway which will communicate with a highway for which another strategic highways company is the highway authority, the communication shall not be made unless the manner in which it is to be made has been approved by the Secretary of State.

(2) A local highway authority may construct new highways; but—

(a) where a new highway to be constructed by such an authority will communicate with a highway for which the Minister or a strategic highways company is the highway authority;. . .

(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the communication shall not be made unless the manner in which it is to be made has been approved by the Minister or the company . . .

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4) The Minister or a local highway authority may provide and maintain new road-ferries.

Section 25 Creation of footpath , bridleway or restricted byway by agreement.

(1) A local authority may enter into an agreement with any person having the necessary power in that behalf for the dedication by that person of a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway over land in their area.

An agreement under this section is referred to in this Act as a “public path creation agreement”.

(2) For the purposes of this section “ local authority ”—

(a) in relation to land outside Greater London means a county council, a district council . . .; and

(b) in relation to land in Greater London means . . . a London borough council or the Common Council.

(3) Before entering into an agreement under this section a local authority shall consult any other local authority or authorities in whose area the land concerned is situated.

(4) An agreement under this section shall be on such terms as to payment or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement and may, if it is so agreed, provide for the dedication of the footpath , bridleway or restricted byway subject to limitations or conditions affecting the public right of way over it.

(5) Where a public path creation agreement has been made it shall be the duty of the local authority who are a party to it to take all necessary steps for securing that the footpath , bridleway or restricted byway is dedicated in accordance with it.

(6) As soon as may be after the dedication of a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway in accordance with a public path creation agreement, the local authority who are party to the agreement shall give notice of the dedication by publication in at least one local newspaper circulating in the area in which the land to which the agreement relates is situated.

Section 26 Compulsory powers for creation of footpaths , bridleways and restricted byways .

(1) Where it appears to a local authority or a strategic highways company that there is need for a footpath bridleway or restricted byway over land in their area and they are satisfied that, having regard to—

(a) the extent to which the path or way would add to the convenience or enjoyment of a substantial section of the public, or to the convenience of persons resident in the area, and

(b) the effect which the creation of the path or way would have on the rights of persons interested in the land, account being taken of the provisions as to compensation contained in section 28 below,

it is expedient that the path or way should be created, the authority or company may by order made by them or it and submitted to and confirmed by the Secretary of State, or confirmed by them or it as an unopposed order, create a footpath bridleway or restricted byway over the land.

An order under this section is referred to in this Act as a “public path creation order”; and for the purposes of this section “ local authority ” has the same meaning as in section 25 above.

(2) Where it appears to the Secretary of State in a particular case that there is need for a footpath bridleway or restricted byway as mentioned in subsection (1) above, and he is satisfied as mentioned in that subsection, he may, after consultation with each body which is a local authority for the purposes of this section in relation to the land concerned, make a public path creation order creating the footpath bridleway or restricted byway .

(3) A local authority and a strategic highways company shall, before exercising any power under this section, consult any ... local authority or authorities in whose area the land concerned is situated.

(3A) The considerations to which—

(a) the Secretary of State is to have regard in determining whether or not to confirm or make a public path creation order, and

(b) a local authority and a strategic highways company are to have regard in determining whether or not to confirm such an order as an unopposed order,

include any material provision of a rights of way improvement plan prepared by any local highway authority whose area includes land over which the proposed footpath bridleway or restricted byway would be created.

(4) A right of way created by a public path creation order may be either unconditional or subject to such limitations or conditions as may be specified in the order.

(5) A public path creation order shall be in such form as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State, and shall contain a map, on such scale as may be so prescribed, defining the land over which a footpath bridleway or restricted byway is thereby created.

(6) Schedule 6 to this Act shall have effect as to the making, confirmation, validity and date of operation of public path creation orders.

Section 27 Making up of new footpaths , bridleways and restricted byways .

(1) On the dedication of a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway in pursuance of a public path creation agreement, or on the coming into operation of a public path creation order, being—

(a) an agreement or order made by a local authority who are not the highway authority for the path in question, or

(b) an order made by the Secretary of State under section 26(2) above in relation to which he directs that this subsection shall apply,

the highway authority shall survey the path or way and shall certify what work (if any) appears to them to be necessary to bring it into a fit condition for use by the public as a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway , as the case may be, and shall serve a copy of the certificate on the local authority mentioned in paragraph (a) above or, where paragraph (b) applies, on such local authority as the Secretary of State may direct.

(2) It shall be the duty of the highway authority to carry out any works specified in a certificate under subsection (1) above, and where the authority have carried out the work they may recover from the authority on whom a copy of the certificate was served any expenses reasonably incurred by them in carrying out that work, including any expenses so incurred in the discharge of any liability for compensation in respect of the carrying out thereof.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this section, where an agreement or order is made as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above, the local authority making the agreement or order may—

(a) with the consent of the highway authority carry out (in place of the highway authority) the duties imposed by that subsection on the highway authority; and

(b) carry out any works which, apart from this subsection, it would be the duty of the highway authority to carry out under subsection (2) above.

(4) Where the Secretary of State makes a public path creation order under section 26(2) above, he may direct that subsection (5) below shall apply.

(5) Where the Secretary of State gives such a direction—

(a) the local authority who, on the coming into force of the order, became the highway authority for the path or way in question shall survey the path or way and shall certify what work (if any) appears to them to be necessary to bring it into a fit condition for use by the public as a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway , as the case may be, and shall furnish the Secretary of State with a copy of the certificate;

(b) if the Secretary of State is not satisfied with a certificate made under the foregoing paragraph, he shall either cause a local inquiry to be held or shall give to the local authority an opportunity of being heard by a person appointed by him for the purpose and, after considering the report of the person appointed to hold the inquiry or the person so appointed as aforesaid, shall make such order either confirming or varying the certificate as he may think fit; and

(c) subject to the provisions of the last foregoing paragraphs, it shall be the duty of the highway authority to carry out the work specified in a certificate made by them under paragraph (a) above.

(6) In this section “ local authority ” means any council . . ..

Section 28 Compensation for loss caused by public path creation order.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, if, on a claim made in accordance with this section, it is shown that the value of an interest of a person in land is depreciated, or that a person has suffered damage by being disturbed in his enjoyment of land, in consequence of the coming into operation of a public path creation order, the authority by whom the order was made shall pay to that person compensation equal to the amount of the depreciation or damage.

(2) A claim for compensation under this section shall be made within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State, and shall be made to the authority by whom the order was made.

(3) For the purposes of the application of this section to an order made by the Secretary of State under section 26(2) above, references in this section to the authority by whom the order was made are to be construed as references to such one of the authorities referred to in that subsection as may be nominated by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this subsection.

(4) Nothing in this section confers on any person, in respect of a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway created by a public path creation order, a right to compensation for depreciation of the value of an interest in the land, or for disturbance in his enjoyment of land, not being in either case land over which the path or way was created or land held therewith, unless the creation of the path or way would have been actionable at his suit if it had been affected otherwise than in the exercise of statutory powers.

(5) In this section “ interest ”, in relation to land, includes any estate in land and any right over land, whether the right is exercisable by virtue of the ownership of an interest in land or by virtue of a licence or agreement, and in particular includes sporting rights.

Section 29 Duty to have regard to agriculture, forestry and nature conservation.

(1) In the exercise of their functions under this Part of this Act relating to the making of public path creation agreements and public path creation orders it shall be the duty of councils to have due regard to—

(a) the needs of agriculture and forestry, and

(b) the desirability of conserving flora, fauna and geological and physiographical features.

(2) In this section, “ agriculture ” includes the breeding or keeping of horses.

Section 30 Dedication of highway by agreement with parish or community council.

(1) The council of a parish or community may enter into an agreement with any person having the necessary power in that behalf for the dedication by that person of a highway over land in the parish or community or an adjoining parish or community in any case where such a dedication would in the opinion of the council be beneficial to the inhabitants of the parish or community or any part thereof.

(2) Where the council of a parish or community have entered into an agreement under subsection (1) above for the dedication of a highway they may carry out any works (including works of maintenance or improvement) incidental to or consequential on the making of the agreement or contribute towards the expense of carrying out such works, and may agree or combine with the council of any other parish or community to carry out such works or to make such a contribution.

Section 31 Dedication of way as highway presumed after public use for 20 years.

(1) Where a way over any land, other than a way of such a character that use of it by the public could not give rise at common law to any presumption of dedication, has been actually enjoyed by the public as of right and without interruption for a full period of 20 years, the way is to be deemed to have been dedicated as a highway unless there is sufficient evidence that there was no intention during that period to dedicate it.

(1A) Subsection (1)—

(a) is subject to section 66 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (dedication by virtue of use for mechanically propelled vehicles no longer possible), but

(b) applies in relation to the dedication of a restricted byway by virtue of use for non-mechanically propelled vehicles as it applies in relation to the dedication of any other description of highway which does not include a public right of way for mechanically propelled vehicles.

(2) The period of 20 years referred to in subsection (1) above is to be calculated retrospectively from the date when the right of the public to use the way is brought into question, whether by a notice such as is mentioned in subsection (3) below or otherwise.

(3) Where the owner of the land over which any such way as aforesaid passes—

(a) has erected in such manner as to be visible to persons using the way a notice inconsistent with the dedication of the way as a highway, and

(b) has maintained the notice after the 1st January 1934, or any later date on which it was erected,

the notice, in the absence of proof of a contrary intention, is sufficient evidence to negative the intention to dedicate the way as a highway.

(4) In the case of land in the possession of a tenant for a term of years, or from year to year, any person for the time being entitled in reversion to the land shall, notwithstanding the existence of the tenancy, have the right to place and maintain such a notice as is mentioned in subsection (3) above, so, however, that no injury is done thereby to the business or occupation of the tenant.

(5) Where a notice erected as mentioned in subsection (3) above is subsequently torn down or defaced, a notice given by the owner of the land to the appropriate council that the way is not dedicated as a highway is, in the absence of proof of a contrary intention, sufficient evidence to negative the intention of the owner of the land to dedicate the way as a highway.

(6) An owner of land may at any time deposit with the appropriate council—

(a) a map of the land ..., and

(b) a statement indicating what ways (if any) over the land he admits to have been dedicated as highways;

and, in any case in which such a deposit has been made, ... declarations in valid form made by that owner or by his successors in title and lodged by him or them with the appropriate council at any time—

(i) within the relevant number of years from the date of the deposit, or

(ii) within the relevant number of years from the date on which any previous declaration was last lodged under this section.

to the effect that no additional way (other than any specifically indicated in the declaration) over the land delineated on the said map has been dedicated as a highway since the date of the deposit, or since the date of the lodgment of such previous declaration, as the case may be, are, in the absence of proof of a contrary intention, sufficient evidence to negative the intention of the owner or his successors in title to dedicate any such additional way as a highway.

(6A) Where the land is in England—

(a) a map deposited under subsection (6)(a) and a statement deposited under subsection (6)(b) must be in the prescribed form,

(b) a declaration is in valid form for the purposes of subsection (6) if it is in the prescribed form, and

(c) the relevant number of years for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) of subsection (6) is 20 years.

(6B) Where the land is in Wales—

(a) a map deposited under subsection (6)(a) must be on a scale of not less than 6 inches to 1 mile,

(b) a declaration is in valid form for the purposes of subsection (6) if it is a statutory declaration, and

(c) the relevant number of years for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) of subsection (6) is 10 years.

(6C) Where, under subsection (6), an owner of land in England deposits a map and statement or lodges a declaration, the appropriate council must take the prescribed steps in relation to the map and statement or (as the case may be) the declaration and do so in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed period (if any).

(7) For the purposes of the foregoing provisions of this section “ owner ”, in relation to any land, means a person who is for the time being entitled to dispose of the fee simple in the land; and for the purposes of subsections (5) , (6), (6C) and (13) “ the appropriate council ” means the council of the county , metropolitan district or London borough in which the way (in the case of subsection (5)) or the land (in the case of subsections (6), (6C) and (13) ) is situated or, where the way or land is situated in the City, the Common Council.

(7A) Subsection (7B) applies where the matter bringing the right of the public to use a way into question is an application under section 53(5) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for an order making modifications so as to show the right on the definitive map and statement.

(7B) The date mentioned in subsection (2) is to be treated as being the date on which the application is made in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 14 to the 1981 Act.

(8) Nothing in this section affects any incapacity of a corporation or other body or person in possession of land for public or statutory purposes to dedicate a way over that land as a highway if the existence of a highway would be incompatible with those purposes.

(9) Nothing in this section operates to prevent the dedication of a way as a highway being presumed on proof of user for any less period than 20 years, or being presumed or proved in any circumstances in which it might have been presumed or proved immediately before the commencement of this Act.

(10) Nothing in this section or section 32 below affects section 56(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (which provides that a definitive map and statement are conclusive evidence as to the existence of the highways shown on the map and as to certain particulars contained in the statement),. . .

(10A) Nothing in subsection (1A) affects the obligations of the highway authority, or of any other person, as respects the maintenance of a way.

(11) For the purposes of this section “ land ” includes land covered with water.

(12) For the purposes of subsection (1A) “ mechanically propelled vehicle ” does not include a vehicle falling within section 189(1)(c) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (electrically assisted pedal cycle).

(13) The Secretary of State may make regulations for the purposes of the application of subsection (6) to land in England which make provision—

(a) for a statement or declaration required for the purposes of subsection (6) to be combined with a statement required for the purposes of section 15A of the Commons Act 2006;

(b) as to the fees payable in relation to the depositing of a map and statement or the lodging of a declaration (including provision for a fee payable under the regulations to be determined by the appropriate council).

(14) For the purposes of the application of this section to land in England “ prescribed ” means prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of State.

(15) Regulations under this section made by the Secretary of State may make—

(a) such transitional or saving provision as the Secretary of State considers appropriate;

(b) different provision for different purposes or areas.

Section 31A Register of maps, statements and declarations.

(1) The appropriate council shall keep, in such manner as may be prescribed, a register containing such information as may be prescribed with respect to maps and statements deposited and declarations lodged with that council under section 31(6) above.

(2) Regulations may make provision for the register to be kept in two or more parts, each part containing such information as may be prescribed with respect to such maps, statements and declarations.

(3) Regulations may make provision as to circumstances in which an entry relating to a map, statement or declaration, or anything relating to it, is to be removed from the register or from any part of it.

(4) Every register kept under this section shall be available for inspection free of charge at all reasonable hours.

(5) In this section—

“ appropriate council ” has the same meaning as in section 31(6) above;

“ prescribed ” means prescribed by regulations;

“ regulations ” means regulations made by the Secretary of State.

Section 32 Evidence of dedication of way as highway.

A court or other tribunal, before determining whether a way has or has not been dedicated as a highway, or the date on which such dedication, if any, took place, shall take into consideration any map, plan or history of the locality or other relevant document which is tendered in evidence, and shall give such weight thereto as the court or tribunal considers justified by the circumstances, including the antiquity of the tendered document, the status of the person by whom and the purpose for which it was made or compiled, and the custody in which it has been kept and from which it is produced.

Section 33 Protection of rights of reversioners.

The person entitled to the remainder or reversion immediately expectant upon the determination of a tenancy for life, or pour autre vie, in land shall have the like remedies by action for trespass or an injunction to prevent the acquisition by the public of a right of way over that land as if he were in possession thereof.

Section 34 Conversion of private street into highway.

Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, a street which is not a highway and land to which section 232 below applies may become a highway by virtue of a declaration made by a county council, a metropolitan district council, a London borough council or the Common Council in accordance with the provisions in that behalf contained in Part XI of this Act.

Section 35 Creation of walkways by agreement.

(1) An agreement under this section may be entered into—

(a) by a local highway authority, after consultation with the council of any non-metropolitan district in which the land concerned is situated;

(b) by a non-metropolitan district council, either alone or jointly with the local highway authority, after consultation with the local highway authority.

(2) An agreement under this section is an agreement with any person having an interest in any land on which a building is, or is proposed to be, situated, being a person who by virtue of that interest has the necessary power in that behalf,—

(a) for the provision of ways over, through or under parts of the building, or the building when constructed, as the case may be, or parts of any structure attached, or to be attached, to the building; and

(b) for the dedication by that person of those ways as footpaths subject to such limitations and conditions, if any, affecting the public right of way thereover as may be specified in the agreement and to any rights reserved by the agreement to that person and any person deriving title to the land under him.

A footpath created in pursuance of an agreement under this section is referred to below as a “walkway”.

(3) An agreement under this section may make provision for—

(a) the maintenance, cleansing and drainage of any walkway to which the agreement relates;

(b) the lighting of such walkway and of that part of the building or structure which will be over or above it;

(c) the provision and maintenance of support for such walkway;

(d) entitling the authority entering into the agreement or, where the agreement is entered into jointly by a non-metropolitan district council and a local highway authority, either of those authorities to enter on any building or structure in which such walkway will be situated and to execute any works necessary to secure the performance of any obligation which any person is for the time being liable to perform by virtue of the agreement or of subsection (4) below;

(e) the making of payments by the authority entering into the agreement or, where the agreement is entered into jointly by a non-metropolitan district council and a local highway authority, either of those authorities to any person having an interest in the land or building affected by the agreement;

(f) the termination, in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the agreement, of the right of the public to use such walkway;

(g) any incidental and consequential matters.

(4) Any covenant (whether positive or restrictive) contained in an agreement under this section and entered into by a person having an interest in any land affected by the agreement shall be binding upon persons deriving title to the land under the covenantor to the same extent as it is binding upon the covenantor notwithstanding that it would not have been binding upon those persons apart from the provisions of this subsection, and shall be enforceable against those persons by the local highway authority.

(5) A covenant contained in an agreement under this section and entered into by a person having an interest in any land affected by the agreement is a local land charge.

(6) Where an agreement has been entered into under this section the appropriate authority may make byelaws regulating—

(a) the conduct of persons using any walkway to which the agreement relates;

(b) the times at which any such walkway may be closed to the public;

(c) the placing or retention of anything (including any structure or projection) in, on or over any such walkway.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6) above, “ the appropriate authority ” means—

(a) where the agreement was entered into by a local highway authority, that authority;

(b) where the agreement was entered into by a non-metropolitan district council alone, that council;

(c) where the agreement was entered into by a non-metropolitan district council jointly with the local highway authority, the local highway authority;

but in cases falling within paragraph (c) above the local highway authority shall before making any byelaw consult the district council, and in exercisng his power of confirmation the Minister shall have regard to any dispute between the local highway authority and the district council.

(8) Not less than 2 months before an authority propose to make byelaws under subsection (6) above they shall display in a conspicuous position on or adjacent to the walkway in question notice of their intention to make such byelaws.

(9) A notice under subsection (8) above shall specify the place where a copy of the proposed byelaws may be inspected and the period, which shall not be less than 6 weeks from the date on which the notice was first displayed as aforesaid, within which representations may be made to the authority, and the authority shall consider any representations made to them within that period.

(10) The Minister of the Crown having power by virtue of section 236 of the Local Government Act 1972 to confirm byelaws made under subsection (6) above may confirm them with or without modifications; and if he proposes to confirm them with modifications he may, before confirming them, direct the authority by whom they were made to give notice of the proposed modifications to such persons and in such manner as may be specified in the direction.

(11) Subject to subsection (12) below, the Minister, after consulting such representative organisations as he thinks fit, may make regulations—

(a) for preventing any enactment or instrument relating to highways or to things done on or in connection with highways from applying to walkways which have been, or are to be, created in pursuance of agreements under this section or to things done on or in connection with such walkways;

(b) for amending, modifying or adapting any such enactment or instrument in its application to such walkways;

(c) without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (a) and (b) above, for excluding, restricting or regulating the rights of statutory undertakers, . . . . . . and the operators of electronic communications code networks to place and maintain apparatus in, under, over, along or across such walkways;

(d) without prejudice as aforesaid, for defining the cirumstances and manner in which such walkways may be closed periodically or temporarily or stopped up and for prescribing the procedure to be followed before such a walkway is stopped up.

(12) Regulations under this section shall not exclude the rights of statutory undertakers, . . . . . . or the operators of electronic communications code networks to place and maintain apparatus in, under, along or across any part of a walkway, being a part which is not supported by any structure.

(13) Without prejudice to subsection (11) above, regulations under this section may make different provisions for different classes of walkways and may include such incidental, supplemental and consequential provisions (and, in particular, provisions relating to walkways provided in pursuance of agreements made before the coming into operation of the regulations) as appear to the Minister to be expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(14) Nothing in this section is to be taken as affecting any other provision of this Act, or any other enactment, by virtue of which highways may be created.

Section 36 Highways maintainable at public expense.

(1) All such highways as immediately before the commencment of this Act were highways maintainable at the public expense for the purposes of the Highways Act 1959 continue to be so maintainable (subject to this section and to any order of a magistrates’ court under section 47 below) for the purposes of this Act.

(2) Without prejudice to any other enactment (whether contained in this Act or not) whereby a highway may become for the purposes of this Act a highway maintainable at the public expense, and subject to this section and section 232(7) below, and to any order of a magistrates’ court under section 47 below, the following highways (not falling within subsection (1) above) shall for the purposes of this Act be highways maintainable at the public expense—

(a) a highway constructed by a highway authority, otherwise than on behalf of some other person who is not a highway authority;

(b) a highway constructed by a council within their own area under Part II of the Housing Act 1985 , other than one in respect of which the local highway authority are satisfied that it has not been properly constructed, and a highway constructed by a council outside their own area under the said Part II , being, in the latter case, a highway the liability to maintain which is, by virtue of the said Part II , vested in the council who are the local highway authority for the area in which the highway is situated;

(c) a highway that is a trunk road or a special road; . . .

(d) a highway, being a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway , created in consequence of a public path creation order or a public path diversion order or in consequence of an order made by the Minister of Transport or the Secretary of State under section 247 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or by a competent authority under section 257 of that Act , or dedicated in pursuance of a public path creation agreement.

(e) a highway, being a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway , created in consequence of a rail crossing diversion order, or of an order made under section 14 or 16 of the Harbours Act 1964, or of an order made under section 1 or 3 of the Transport and Works Act 1992.

(f) a highway, being a footpath, a bridleway, a restricted byway or a way over which the public have a right of way for vehicular and all other kinds of traffic, created in consequence of a special diversion order or an SSSI diversion order.

(3) Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) above is not to be construed as referring to a part of a trunk road or special road consisting of a bridge or other part which a person is liable to maintain under a charter or special enactment, or by reason of tenure, enclosure or prescription.

(3A) Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) above shall not apply to a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway , or to any part of a footpath , bridleway or restricted byway , which by virtue of an order of a kind referred to in that subsection is maintainable otherwise than at the public expense.

(4) Subject to subsection (5) below, where there occurs any event on the occurrence of which, under any rule of law relating to the duty of maintaining a highway by reason of tenure, enclosure or prescription, a highway would, but for the enactment which abrogated the former rule of law under which a duty of maintaining highways fell on the inhabitants at large (section 38(1) of the Highways Act 1959) or any other enactment, become, or cease to be, maintainable by the inhabitants at large of any area, the highway shall become, or cease to be, a highway which for the purposes of this Act is a highway maintainable at the public expense.

(5) A highway shall not by virtue of subsection (4) above become a highway which for the purposes of this Act is a highway maintainable at the public expense unless either—

(a) it was a highway before 31st August 1835; or

(b) it became a highway after that date and has at some time been maintainable by the inhabitants at large of any area or a highway maintainable at the public expense;

and a highway shall not by virtue of that subsection cease to be a highway maintainable at the public expense if it is a highway which under any rule of law would become a highway maintainable by reason of enclosure but is prevented from becoming such a highway by section 51 below.

(6) The council of every county , metropolitan district and London borough and the Common Council shall cause to be made, and shall keep corrected up to date, a list of the streets within their area which are highways maintainable at the public expense.

(7) Every list made under subsection (6) above shall be kept deposited at the offices of the council by whom it was made and may be inspected by any person free of charge at all reasonable hours and in the case of a list made by the council of a county in England , the county council shall supply to the council of each district in the county an up to date list of the streets within the area of the district that are highways maintainable at the public expense, and the list so supplied shall be kept deposited at the office of the district council and may be inspected by any person free of charge at all reasonable hours.

Section 37 Provisions whereby highway created by dedication may become maintainable at public expense.

(1) A person who proposes to dedicate a way as a highway and who desires that the proposed highway shall become maintainable at the public expense by virtue of this section shall give notice of the proposal, not less than 3 months before the date of the proposed dedication, to the council who would, if the way were a highway, be the highway authority therefor, describing the location and width of the proposed highway and the nature of the proposed dedication.

(2) If the council consider that the proposed highway will not be of sufficient utility to the public to justify its being maintained at the public expense, they may make a complaint to a magistrates’ court for an order to that effect.

(3) If the council certify that the way has been dedicated in accordance with the terms of the notice and has been made up in a satisfactory manner, and if—

(a) the person by whom the way was dedicated or his successor keeps it in repair for a period of 12 months from the date of the council’s certificate, and

(b) the way has been used as a highway during that period,

then, unless an order has been made in relation to the highway under subsection (2) above, the highway shall, at the expiration of the period specified in paragraph (a) above, become for the purposes of this Act a highway maintainable at the public expense.

(4) If the council, on being requested by the person by whom the way was dedicated or his successor to issue a certificate under subsection (3) above, refuse to issue the certificate, that person may appeal to a magistrates’ court against the refusal, and the court, if satisfied that the certificate ought to have been issued, may make an order to the effect that subsection (3) above shall apply as if the certificate had been issued on a date specified in the order.

(5) Where a certificate has been issued by a council under subsection (3) above, or an order has been made under subsection (4) above, the certificate or a copy of the order, as the case may be, shall be deposited with the proper officer of the council and may be inspected by any person free of charge at all reasonable hours.

Section 38 Power of highway authorities to adopt by agreement.

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, where any person is liable under a special enactment or by reason of tenure, enclosure or prescription to maintain a highway, the Minister or a strategic highways company, whichever is the highway authority , in the case of a trunk road, or a local highway authority, in any other case, may agree with that person to undertake the maintenance of that highway; and where an agreement is made under this subsection the highway to which the agreement relates shall, on such date as may be specified in the agreement, become for the purposes of this Act a highway maintainable at the public expense and the liability of that person to maintain the highway shall be extinguished.

(2) A local highway authority shall not have power to make an agreement under subsection (1) above with respect to a highway with respect to which they or any other highway authority have power to make an agreement under Part V or Part XII of this Act.

(3) A local highway authority may agree with any person to undertake the maintenance of a way—

(a) which that person is willing and has the necessary power to dedicate as a highway, or

(b) which is to be constructed by that person, or by a highway authority on his behalf, and which he proposes to dedicate as a highway;

and where an agreement is made under this subsection the way to which the agreement relates shall, on such date as may be specified in the agreement, become for the purposes of this Act a highway maintainable at the public expense.

(3A) The Minister may agree with any person to undertake the maintenance of a road—

(a) which that person is willing and has the necessary power to dedicate as a highway, or

(b) which is to be constructed by that person, or by a highway authority on his behalf, and which he proposes to dedicate as a highway,

and which the Minister proposes should become a trunk road; and where an agreement is made under this subsection the road shall become for the purposes of this Act a highway maintainable at the public expense on the date on which an order comes into force under section 10 directing that the road become a trunk road or, if later, the date on which the road is opened for the purposes of through traffic.

(4) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (3) above and subject to the following provisions of this section, a local highway authority may, by agreement with railway, canal or tramway undertakers, undertake to maintain as part of a highway maintainable at the public expense a bridge or viaduct which carries the railway, canal or tramway of the undertakers over such a highway or which is intended to carry such a railway, canal or tramway over such a highway and is to be constructed by those undertakers or by the highway authority on their behalf.

(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(6) An agreement under this section may contain such provisions as to the dedication as a highway of any road or way to which the agreement relates, the bearing of the expenses of the construction, maintenance or improvement of any highway, road, bridge or viaduct to which the agreement relates and other relevant matters as the authority making the agreement think fit.

Section 40 Adoption of private streets.

The foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act are without prejudice to the power or, as the case may be, the duty of the council of a county , metropolitan district or London borough, or the Common Council, to adopt private streets as highways maintainable at the public expense under Part XI of this Act.

Section 41 Duty to maintain highways maintainable at public expense.

(1) The authority who are for the time being the highway authority for a highway maintainable at the public expense are under a duty, subject to subsections (2) and (4) below, to maintain the highway.

(1A) In particular, a highway authority are under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.

(2) An order made by the Minister under section 10 above directing that a highway proposed to be constructed by him or a strategic highways company shall become a trunk road may, as regards—

(a) a highway to which this subsection applies which becomes a trunk road by virtue of the order, or

(b) a part of a highway to which this subsection applies, being a part which crosses the route of the highway to be so constructed,

contain such a direction as is specified in subsection (4) below.

(3) Subsection (2) above applies to—

(a) any highway maintainable at the public expense by a local highway authority, and

(b) any highway other than a highway falling within paragraph (a) above or a highway maintainable under a special enactment or by reason of tenure, enclosure or prescription.

(4) The direction referred to in subsection (2) above is—

(a) in a case where the highway or part of a highway falls within subsection (3)(a) above, a direction that, notwithstanding subsection (1) above, it shall be maintained by the highway authority for that highway until such date, not being later than the date on which the new route is opened for the purposes of through traffic, as may be specified in a notice given by the Minister to that authority; and

(b) in a case where the highway or part of a highway falls within subsection (3)(b) above, a direction that, notwithstanding subsection (1) above, the Minister or the strategic highways company is to be under no duty to maintain it until such date as aforesaid.

(5) Where an order under section 10 above contains a direction made in pursuance of subsections (2) to (4) above, then, until the date specified in the notice given by the Minister pursuant to the direction, in accordance with subsection (4) above, the powers of a highway authority under sections 97, 98, 270 and 301 below as respects the highway to which the direction relates are exercisable by the highway authority to whom the notice is required to be given, as well as by the Minister or the strategic highways company .

Section 42 Power of district councils to maintain certain highways.

(1) Subject to Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act, the council of a non-metropolitan district may undertake the maintenance of any eligible highway in the district which is a highway maintainable at the public expense.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above the following are eligible highways:—

(a) footpaths,

(b) bridleways,

(ba) restricted byways, and

(c) roads (referred to in Schedule 7 to this Act as “ urban roads ”) which are neither trunk roads nor classified roads and which—

(i) are restricted roads for the purposes of section 81 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (30 m.p.h. speed limit), or

(ii) are subject to an order made by virtue of section 84(1)(a) of that Act imposing a speed limit not exceeding 40 m.p.h., or

(iii) are otherwise streets in an urban area.

(3) The county council who are the highway authority for a highway which is for the time being maintained by a non-metropolitan district council by virtue of this section shall reimburse to the district council any expenses incurred by them in carrying out on the highway works of maintenance necessary to secure that the duty to maintain the highway is performed, and Part II of Schedule 7 to this Act shall have effect for this purpose.

Section 43 Power of parish and community councils to maintain footpaths , bridleways and restricted byways .

(1) The council of a parish or community may undertake the maintenance of any footpath , bridleway or restricted byway within the parish or community which is, in either case, a highway maintainable at the public expense; but nothing in this subsection affects the duty of any highway authority or other person to maintain any such footpath , bridleway or restricted byway .

(2) The highway authority for any footpath , bridleway or restricted byway which a parish or community council have power to maintain under subsection (1) above, and a non-metropolitan district council for the time being maintaining any such footpath , bridleway or restricted byway by virtue of section 42 above, may undertake to defray the whole or part of any expenditure incurred by the parish or community council in maintaining the footpath , bridleway or restricted byway .

(3) The power of a parish or community council under subsection (1) above is subject to the restrictions for the time being imposed by any enactment on their expenditure, but for the purposes of any enactment imposing such a restriction their expenditure is to be deemed not to include any expenditure falling to be defrayed by a highway authority or district council by virtue of subsection (2) above.

Section 44 Person liable to maintain highway may agree to maintain publicly maintainable highway.

Where any person is liable under a special enactment or by reason of tenure, enclosure or prescription to maintain a highway, he may enter into an agreement with the highway authority for that highway for the maintenance by him of any highway maintainable at the public expense by the highway authority; but nothing in this section affects the duty of a highway authority to maintain a highway as respects which any such agreement is made.

Section 45 Power to get materials for repair of publicly maintainable highways.

(1) For the purpose of repairing highways maintainable at the public expense by them, a highway authority may exercise such powers with respect to the getting of materials as are mentioned in this section.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, the authority may search for, dig, get and carry away gravel, sand, stone and other materials in and from any waste or common land (including the bed of any river or brook flowing through such land).

(3) The authority—

(a) shall not in the exercise of their powers under subsection (2) above divert or interrupt the course of any river or brook, or dig or get materials out of any river or brook within 50 yards above or below a bridge, dam or weir;

(b) shall not in the exercise of those powers remove such quantity of stones or other materials from any sea beach as to cause damage by inundation or increased danger of encroachment by the sea; and

(c) shall not exercise those powers in any land forming part of a common to which section 20 of the Commons Act 1876 applies, except in accordance with that section.

(4) Subject to subsection (5) below, the authority may gather and carry away stones lying upon any land in the non-metropolitan county, metropolitan district or London borough within which the stones are to be used.

(5) The authority—

(a) shall not exercise the powers conferred by subsection (4) above in a garden, yard, avenue to a house, lawn, park, paddock or inclosed plantation, or in an inclosed wood not exceeding 100 acres in extent;

(b) shall not in the case of any other inclosed land exercise those powers unless either they have obtained the consent of the owner and of the occupier of that land, or a magistrates’ court has made an order authorising them to exercise those powers in the case of that land; and

(c) shall not in the exercise of those powers remove such quantity of stones or other materials from any sea beach as to cause damage by inundation or increased danger of encroachment by the sea.

(6) If the authority cannot get sufficient materials by the exercise of their powers under the foregoing provisions of this section, a magistrates’ court may make an order authorising them to search for, dig, get and carry away materials in and from any inclosed land in the non-metropolitan county, metropolitan district or London borough within which the materials are to be used, other than any such land as is mentioned in subsection (5)(a) above.

(7) For the purpose of repairing a bridge maintainable at the public expense and so much of a highway so maintainable as is carried by the bridge or forms the approaches to the bridge up to 100 yards from each end of the bridge, the authority may take and carry away the rubbish or refuse stones from any quarry in the non-metropolitan county or metropolitan district within which the materials are to be used or, if the materials are to be used in Greater London, from any quarry in Greater London.

(8) Subject to subsection (9) below, for the purpose of repairing or reconstructing a bridge maintainable at the public expense, the authority may be authorised by an order of a magistrates’ court to quarry stone from any quarry in the non-metropolitan county or metropolitan district in which the bridge is or, if the bridge is in Greater London, from any quarry in Greater London.

(9) No order shall be made under subsection (8) above in relation to a quarry which has not been worked at any time during the 3 years immediately preceding the date on which a complaint for such an order is made; and no stone shall be taken from a quarry situated in a garden, yard, avenue to a house, lawn, paddock or inclosed plantation, or in land on which ornamental timber trees are growing, except with the consent of the owner of the quarry.

(10) An authority who exercise any of the powers conferred by this section shall pay compensation to persons interested in any land for any damage done thereto by the carriage of the materials obtained by the authority and also, in cases falling within subsection (6) or subsection (8) above, for the value of those materials.

(11) At least one month before making a complaint to a magistrates’ court for an order under subsection (5) or subsection (6) above the authority shall give notice of their intention to make such a complaint to the owner, and to the occupier, of the land from which they propose to get materials.

(12) In relation to highways in respect of which a non-metropolitan district council’s powers of maintenance under section 42 above are exercisable, references in this section and section 46 below to a highway authority include references to the district council; and for the purposes of this section—

“ inclosed land ” includes any land in the exclusive occupation of one or more persons for agricultural purposes, though not separated by a fence or otherwise from adjoining land of another person, or from a highway; and

“ London borough ” includes the City of London.

Section 46 Supplemental provisions with respect to the getting of materials under section 45.

(1) Where an excavation is made by a highway authority in the exercise of powers conferred by section 45 above, the authority shall—

(a) while work is in progress, and thereafter so long as the excavation remains open, keep the excavation sufficiently fenced to prevent accidents to persons or animals,

(b) if no materials are found therein, fill up the excavation within 3 days from the date on which the excavation was made,

(c) if materials are found, then within 14 days from the date on which sufficient materials have been obtained, fill up the excavation or slope it down and fence it off, if the owner or occupier of the land in question so requires, and thereafter keep it so fenced, and

(d) when filling up an excavation, make good and level the ground and cover it with the turf or clod dug therefrom.

(2) An authority who fail to comply with any of the provisions of subsection (1) above are guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale .

(3) If in the exercise of powers conferred by section 45 above materials are dug so as to damage or endanger a highway, occupation road, ford, dam, mine, building, works or apparatus, the authority are guilty of an offence and, without prejudice to any civil proceedings which may be available against them, liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale .

(4) A person who, without the consent of the highway authority,—

(a) takes away any materials purchased, gotten or gathered by them for the repair of highways, or

(b) takes away any materials from a quarry or excavation opened by the authority before their workmen have ceased working thereat for 6 weeks,

is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale ; but in the case of a quarry or excavation in private grounds, nothing in this subsection prevents the owner or occupier from getting materials therefrom for his own private use and not for sale.

Section 47 Power of magistrates’ court to declare unnecessary highway to be not maintainable at public expense.

(1) Where a highway authority are of opinion that a highway maintainable at the public expense by them is unnecessary for public use and therefore ought not to be maintained at the public expense, they may, subject to subsections (2) to (4) below, apply to a magistrates’ court for an order declaring that the highway shall cease to be so maintained.

(2) No application shall be made under this section for an order relating to a trunk road, special road, metropolitan road, footpath, bridleway or restricted byway .

(3) Where a county council, as highway authority, propose to make an application under this section for an order relating to any highway in England , they shall give notice of the proposal to the council of the district in which the highway is situated, and the application shall not be made if, within 2 months from the date of service of the notice by the county council, notice is given to the county council by the district council that the district council have refused to consent to the making of the application.

(4) If a highway authority propose to make an application under this section for an order relating to a highway situated in a parish or a community they shall give notice of the proposal—

(a) to the council of the parish or community, or

(b) in the case of a parish not having a separate parish council, to the chairman of the parish meeting,

and the application shall not be made if, within 2 months from the date of service of the notice by the highway authority, notice is given to the highway authority by the council of the parish or community or the chairman of the parish meeting, as the case may be, that the council or meeting have refused to consent to the making of the application.

(5) Where an application is made to a magistrates’ court under this section, 2 or more justices of the peace acting for the petty sessions area for which the court acts shall together view the highway to which the application relates, and no further proceedings shall be taken on the application unless they are of opinion, after viewing the highway, that there was ground for making the application.

(6) The designated officer for the justices who view a highway in accordance with the provisions of subsection (5) above shall, as soon as practicable after the view, notify the highway authority by whom an application under this section relating to the highway was made of the decision of the justices and, if the justices decide that there was ground for making the application, of the time, not being less than 6 weeks from the date of the notice, and place, at which the application is to be heard by a magistrates’ court.

(7) A magistrates’ court shall not hear an application under this section unless it is satisfied that the highway authority making the application have—

(a) not less than one month before the date on which the application is to be heard by the court, given notice to the owners and the occupiers of all lands adjoining the highway to which the application relates of the making of the application, and the purpose of it, and of the time and place at which the application is to be heard by the court, and

(b) given public notice in the terms and manner required by subsection (8) below.

(8) A highway authority making an application under this section shall publish, once at least in each of the 4 weeks immediately preceding the week in which the application is to be heard, in a local newspaper circulating in the area in which the highway to which the application relates is situated, a notice—

(a) stating that an application has been made to a magistrates’ court under this section and the purpose of the application,

(b) describing the highway, and

(c) specifying the time and place at which the application is to be heard,

and shall cause a copy of the notice to be fixed, at least 14 days before the date on which the application is to be heard by the court, to the principal doors of every church and chapel in the parish or community in which the highway is situated, or in some conspicuous position near the highway.

(9) On the hearing of an application for an order under this section, a magistrates’ court shall hear any person who objects to the order being made and may either dismiss the application or make an order declaring that the highway to which the application relates shall cease to be maintained at the public expense.

(10) Where an order is made under this section the highway to which the order relates shall cease to be a highway maintainable at the public expense.

(11) The highway authority on whose application an order is made under this section shall give notice of the making of the order to any public utility undertakers having apparatus under, in, upon, over, along or across the highway to which the order relates.

Section 48 Power of magistrates’ court to order a highway to be again maintainable at public expense.

(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, if it appears to a magistrates’ court that, in consequence of any change of circumstances since the time at which an order was made under section 47 above, the highway to which the order relates has again become of public use and ought to be maintained at the public expense, the court may by order direct that the highway shall again become for the purposes of this Act a highway maintainable at the public expense.

(2) An order under this section shall not be made except on the application of a person interested in the maintenance of the highway to which the application relates, and on proof that not less than 1 month before making the application he gave notice to the highway authority for the highway of his intention to make an application under this section.

Section 49 Maintenance of approaches to certain privately maintainable bridges.

Where a person is liable to maintain the approaches to a bridge by reason of the fact that he is liable to maintain the bridge by reason of tenure or prescription, his liability to maintain the approaches extends to 100 yards from each end of the bridge.

Section 50 Maintenance of privately maintainable footpaths and bridleways.

(1) Where apart from section 41 above a person would under a special enactment or by reason of tenure, enclosure or prescription be under an obligation to maintain a footpath or bridleway, the operation of section 41(1) does not release him from the obligation.

(2) The council of a non-metropolitan district, parish or community may undertake by virtue of this subsection the maintenance of any footpath or bridleway within the district, parish or community (other than a footpath or bridleway the maintenance of which they have power to undertake under section 42 or, as the case may be, section 43 above) whether or not any other person is under a duty to maintain the footpath or bridleway; but nothing in this subsection affects the duty of any other person to maintain any such footpath or bridleway.

(3) The power of a district council under subsection (2) above is subject to Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act; and the power of a parish or community council under that subsection is subject to the restrictions for the time being imposed by any enactment on their expenditure.