Compensation — Blight notice — Highway proposals for relief road — Counternotice of acquisition of part only of premises — Proposals for road abandoned — All or part of building superfluous to local authority’s needs — Whether date and terms of counternotice binding — Whether local authority could rely on ground not stated in the counternotice
The property comprised a shop with two upper floors, a range of buildings and a large garden at the rear. The local authority drew up two plans in 1972 and 1982 for a relief road, the line of which passed through part of the rear section of the property. The highway proposals led to the claimant’s blight notice for the purchase of the whole of his property. A counternotice under section 194(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (section 151(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990), was served by the council in July 1990, stating that they intended to acquire part of the property only.
After the serving of the counternotice, a consultant’s report was received as a result of which the relief road proposals were abandoned in December 1990.
The property had been on the market since 1988 but the claimant had been unable to sell as a result of the proposed relief road.
Held The blight notice was valid and effective. While it was not in doubt that any blight arising from the relief road proposal had ceasesd to exist at the date of the hearing so that all or part of the premises would be superfluous to requirements, the date in relation to which the council established an objection was the date of their counternotice. That was the material date.
Moreover, the council could not seek to rely on a ground not stated in the notice and there was an implied prohibition against considering any grounds not so specified. With regard to the acquisition of part only of the premises, the loss of the rear land and buildings constituted a sizeable proportion of the claimant’s property, seriously inhibiting the marketability of the remainder. The objection of the council was not well founded and the claimant’s blight notice was valid and effective.
Richard Merritt (instructed by Place Blair & Hatch, of Northallerton) appeared for the claimant; and John M Collins (instructed by the solicitor to North Yorkshire County Council) appeared for the authority.