Compulsory purchase of two adjoining parcels — Claim for over £1m on basis that land had access value to development land — Authority offered £5,490 — Whether the land had access value — Whether Rule 3 of section 5 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 applied.
The claimant had been the owner of a parcel of land the subject of the Kent County Council (New Cut/Bearsted Road Improvement) Compulsory Purchase Order 1983 and extending to 0.86 of an acre. Notice to treat was served in November 1983 and possession was taken on August 1 1984, the agreed valuation date. A second parcel of land extending to 0.97 of an acre was the subject of a counter-notice dated January 10 1984 under section 53 of the Land Compensation Act 1973; this was accepted and possession was taken on December 1 1986, the agreed valuation date for this parcel. On the Maidstone and Vicinity Town Plan 1970 the two parcels were shown as part of an area primarily for residential development.
In 1982 planning permission was granted for some 1,750 dwellings on land to the south of the two parcels, and the various developers having interests in this land agreed phasing and arrangements for a suitable access for the development. The order under which the claimant’s land was taken was a consequence of these agreements, and a roundabout was constructed on the order land to effect the most convenient access. The claimant sought compensation on the basis of his land being necessary to enable the residential development to proceed.
Held 1. On planning and highway evidence the access to the development land to the south through the order land was the most suitable and convenient, although other routes might have been possible at greater expense and inconvenience. 2. Although the two parcels had a “paddock” value, potential purchasers for this use would be outbid by a speculator or developer. 3. Rule 3 of section 5 did not apply as the neighbouring owner best placed to realise its potential as access land did not have a special need, and even if he had, he was not the only purchaser with the same interest. 4. The proper approach was to determine “… the value which the acquiring authority, in a friendly negotiation, would be willing to pay … as though no compulsory powers of acquisition had been obtained”: Lambe v Secretary of State for War [1955] 2 QB 612. The compensation awarded was £500,000 for the order land and £150,000 for the adjoining parcel.
Blandrent Investment Developments Ltd v British Gas Corporation
(1979) 252 EG 267 applied.
Laing Homes Ltd v Eastleigh Borough Council
(1979) 250 EG 350 distinguished.
David Widdicombe QC and Robin Purchas QC (instructed by Hallett & Co of Ashford) appeared for the claimant and called J A Little MRTPI, FRIBA, D S Shaw CCE and R W R Pocock FRICS; and Malcolm Spence QC and Adrian Trevelyan Thomas (instructed by Sharpe Pritchard & Co) appeared for the acquiring authority and called G M Heard MICE and D E Fletcher ARICS.
