s 6 Preparation or adoption of schemes.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a local authority or a joint committee duly authorised in that behalf may, by resolution, decide— (a) to prepare a scheme with respect to any land within, or in the neighbourhood of, the district of the authority or, as the case may be, the districts of the constituent authorities; or (b) to adopt, with or without modifications, a scheme proposed by all or any of the owners of any such land. (2) A resolution passed under the foregoing subsection shall not take effect unless and until it is approved by the Minister, and the Minister in giving his approval may vary the extent of the land to be included in the area to which the resolution is to apply, but the Minister shall not approve any such resolution unless he is satisfied— (a) in the case of any land already built upon, that public improvements are likely to be made, or other development is likely to take place, within such a period of time and on such a scale as to make the inclusion of the land in a scheme expedient, or that the land comprises buildings or other objects of architectural, historic or artistic interest, or that the land is so situate that the general object of the scheme would be better secured by its inclusion; (b) in the case of land which is neither already built upon nor in course of development, nor likely to be developed, that the land is so situated in relation to land which is already built upon, or in course of development, or on which development is likely to take place, as to make its inclusion in a scheme expedient, or that it comprises objects or places of natural interest or beauty: Provided that nothing contained in this subsection shall prevent the Minister from approving a resolution adopting a scheme comprising land in respect of which he is not satisfied that the conditions specified in this subsection are complied with, if the scheme has been proposed by the owners of not less than two-thirds of that land and approved by not less than three-fourths of the owners of that land. (3) A local authority or joint committee, before passing a resolution which will apply to— (i) any land not within the district or, as the case may be, districts aforesaid; or (ii) any land to which either a resolution to prepare or adopt a scheme, or a scheme, being a resolution or scheme passed or made by, another authority or committee, applies, shall consult with every authority or committee who will be affected thereby. (4) A resolution of a local authority or joint committee to prepare a scheme may be revoked, either as to the whole or any part of the area to which it applies, by a subsequent resolution of the authority or committee, or, if the Minister thinks that in the special circumstances of the case the resolution should be so revoked, by order of the Minister: Provided that— (a) a resolution under this subsection shall require the approval of the Minister, and the Minister may refuse to approve it except subject to such conditions as he thinks fit to impose; and (b) before making an order under this subsection the Minister shall inform the authority or committee, as the case may be, of the order which he proposes to make and, if within twenty-eight days the authority or committee request him so to do, shall cause a local inquiry to be held into the matter. (5) In giving his approval to a resolution under the last foregoing subsection, and in making an order thereunder, the Minister shall by the imposition of conditions or, as the case may be, by the terms of his order secure that— (i) any person whose property has been injuriously affected by reason that since the commencement of this Act the Minister has refused, on an appeal made to him under an interim development order, to grant an application for permission to develop the property, or that the Minister has imposed any conditions on the grant of an application made since that date; and (ii) any person who, for the purpose of complying with any conditions imposed on the grant of such an application, has since the commencement of this Act incurred expenditure which is rendered abortive by the revocation of the resolution to prepare a scheme, shall be entitled, if he makes a claim for the purpose within twelve months from the date when the resolution is approved or the order is made, as the case may be, to claim compensation from such authority as may be specified in the condition or order: Provided that the Minister shall not secure a right to compensation in respect of any injurious affection of property arising from refusal to permit any development, or from the imposition of any conditions, where he is satisfied that, if a scheme had come into operation containing provisions which would have had the effect of prohibiting that development, or under which those conditions could have been enforced, no right to compensation would have arisen under this Act in respect of the injurious affection of the property by the coming into operation of those provisions. (6) Where a resolution or resolutions to prepare a scheme or schemes, has or have taken effect, the local authority or joint committee who passed the resolution or resolutions may prepare one scheme for dealing with the area to which the resolution applies or with the aggregate area to which the resolutions apply, as the case may be, or, if they think fit, may prepare different schemes for dealing with different parts of that area or aggregate area. (7) Where under the last foregoing subsection a local authority or joint committee have power to prepare a scheme for any area, they may decide in lieu of proceeding with the preparation of a scheme to adopt, with or without modifications, a scheme for that area or any part thereof proposed by all or any of the owners of land in that area or part thereof. A decision under this subsection shall not be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be a resolution to adopt a scheme, but as from the date of the decision the resolution or resolutions to prepare a scheme or schemes shall, so far as concerns the area or part of an area to which the decision relates, have effect as if the resolution or resolutions had been for the adoption of a scheme. (8) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of a resolution to prepare a scheme varying an existing scheme or to prepare a supplementary scheme as defined by this Act.