LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1934 - SECT 48 Short title, construction and citation.

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1934 - SECT 48

Short title, construction and citation.

48.(1) This Act may be cited as the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland),
1934.

(2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Local Government Acts
(Northern Ireland), 1898 to 1929, and those Acts and this Act may be cited
together as the Local Government Acts (Northern Ireland), 1898 to 1934.

First Schedule rep. by 1948 c.28 (NI) s.43(2) sch.71. The local authority,
where they propose to acquire land otherwise than by agreement, may submit to
the Ministry of Home Affairs an application in the prescribed form for an
order vesting in the local authority the land specified in the application.

2. Notice of the application shall be published by the local authority in the
prescribed manner, and such notice shall be given both in the locality in
which the land is proposed to be acquired and to the [persons appearing to the
local authority to have interests in] that land as may be prescribed.

Notice of the application shall also be given to such Government departments
as may be prescribed.

3. On the expiration of one month after the publication of the notice of the
application, the Ministry of Home Affairs, after considering all objections to
the application which may have been presented to the said Ministry by persons
interested in the land specified in the application, and after causing a local
inquiry to be held (if the said Ministry thinks it necessary to do so) as to
the propriety of making the order applied for, may make an order vesting in
the local authority the said land, or so much thereof, as the said Ministry
thinks proper.

If a local inquiry is held as aforesaid, the local authority and all persons
interested in the land, and such other persons as the person holding the
inquiry in his discretion thinks fit to allow, shall be permitted to appear
and to be heard at the inquiry, and before making the order, the Ministry of
Home Affairs shall consider the report of the person who held the inquiry, and
all objections made thereat.

4. The order shall contain such provisions as the Ministry of Home Affairs
thinks necessary for the purpose of carrying the order into effect, and may
provide for the suspension of the operation of the order, or any part thereof,
until the local authority have paid, or made provision to the satisfaction of
the said Ministry for the payment of, compensation to persons interested in
the land to which the order relates, or in land injuriously affected by the
works proposed to be carried out by the local authority.

An order made by the Ministry of Home Affairs as aforesaid is in this Schedule
referred to as a "vesting order."

5. Notice of a vesting order which has become operative shall be given to such
Government departments (including the Ministry of Finance) as may be
prescribed.

6. A vesting order shall be effectual to pass and vest in the local authority,
as from the date on which the vesting order becomes operative (in this
Schedule referred to as "the date of vesting"), an estate in fee simple in the
land to which it relates, discharged from all claims, estates, incumbrances or
charges whatsoever, or (if the case so requires) such easement or right as the
vesting order may specify; and the rights and claims of all persons in respect
of such land or any interest therein shall, as from the date of vesting, be
transferred and attached, to the extent to which compensation may be payable
in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule, to the rate or fund out of
which the expenses of the local authority in acquiring the land are to be
defrayed (in this Schedule referred to as "the compensation fund"), and shall
be discharged by payments out of the compensation fund.

In so far as a vesting order relates to land, the ownership of which is
registered under the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891,
the date of vesting shall, notwithstanding anything in the foregoing
provisions of this article, be either the date on which the vesting order
becomes operative, or the date of the lodgment of the vesting order with the
registering authority under the said Act, whichever is the later.

7. A vesting order, or the title created by a vesting order (if it relates to
land the ownership of which is registered as aforesaid), shall, forthwith upon
production of such vesting order, be registered in the proper office for the
registration of deeds or titles, as the case requires.

8. Where a vesting order relates to any land forming part of a holding which
is subject to the future payment of an annuity under the Land Purchase Acts,
it shall not be necessary for any consent or authority for the sub-division of
the holding to be given under any enactment of those Acts.

9. On and after the date of vesting, the local authority may enter upon and
use the land to which the vesting order relates.

10.(1) As soon as a vesting order has become operative, any question of
disputed compensation arising between the local authority and any person
interested in any land to which the vesting order relates, or land injuriously
affected by the works proposed to be carried out by the local authority, shall
be referred to and determined by [the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland (in
this Schedule referred to as "the Lands Tribunal")].

(2) Where a vesting order relates to any land forming part of a holding which
is subject to the future payment of an annuity under the Land Purchase Acts,
an agreement for the payment of compensation by the local authority to any
person interested in such land shall not have effect unless

(a)the prescribed notice of the proposed agreement has been given to the
Ministry of Finance, and

(b)the prescribed period has elapsed.

If within the prescribed period the said Ministry notifies the local authority
of its intention to bring before [the Lands Tribunal] any question with
respect to the apportionment or redemption of the annuity, such agreement as
aforesaid shall not have effect pending the decision of [the Lands Tribunal],
and a question of disputed compensation shall be deemed to have arisen for the
purposes of this Schedule.

11.(1) [Where any question of disputed compensation arises, the local
authority shall, as soon as practicable thereafter,] cause to be made out, and
to be signed by their clerk or some other principal officer appointed by them
maps and schedules of any lands to which the vesting order relates and lands
injuriously affected by the works proposed to be carried out by the local
authority (in this Schedule referred to as "the scheduled lands"), together
with the names, so far as the same can be reasonably ascertained, of all
persons who immediately prior to the making of the vesting order were
interested in such lands as owners or reputed owners, lessees or reputed
lessees, or occupiers.

(2) The maps made by the local authority shall be upon such scale and be
framed in such manner as is hereinafter set forth, that is to say

(a)The maps shall be upon a scale of not less than one inch to every two
hundred and twenty feet, and unless the whole of such maps shall be upon a
scale of not less than one inch to every hundred feet an enlarged plan shall
be added of any building, yard or garden upon a scale of not less than one
inch to every hundred feet;

(b)Each field, enclosure, road, passage, house or building to which the
vesting order relates, whether wholly or in part, shall be clearly shown on
the maps, with the fences of the lands abutting thereon accurately indicated,
and with the areas acquired marked in acres, roods, and perches, statute
measure, and clearly defined by boundaries;

(c)Each separate parcel of land or property of any kind shall be indicated and
marked on the maps by a distinctive number corresponding to a number assigned
to such property in the schedule of the scheduled lands;

(d)The maps shall show the names of the townlands, electoral divisions, county
districts and counties in which the scheduled lands are situated, and all
townland boundaries so far as they intersect or closely adjoin
the scheduled lands;

(e)The scale of each map shall be clearly marked thereon and the points of the
compass and a portion of any closely adjoining street or road shown, with the
name thereof, or with words indicating the towns or villages to or from which
the street or road leads.

(3) The local authority shall deposit such maps and schedules [with the
appropriate officer of the Lands Tribunal] and shall deposit and keep copies
of such maps and schedules at the office of the local authority [and the local
authority shall publish once in each of three successive weeks a notice
stating that such documents have been deposited and the times and place at
which copies of them may be inspected by any person desiring to inspect them.]

Para.12 rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

13.(1) [The Lands Tribunal] shall have the same power of apportioning any
rent-service, rent-charge, chief, or other rent, payment, or incumbrance, or
any rent payable in respect of lands comprised in a lease, as two justices
have under the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845.

(2) [The Lands Tribunal] in fixing the amount of compensation to be awarded
may in the case of the severance of any house, building or manufactory, have
regard to and take into account any loss or damage which has been occasioned
by or may ensue from such severance and award compensation therefor in
addition to the value of the part of the premises taken by the local
authority.

(3) Subject to the provisions of article twenty of this Schedule, the amount
of purchase money or compensation to be paid in pursuance of section one
hundred and twenty-four of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, in
respect of any estate, right, or interest in or charge affecting any of
the scheduled lands which the local authority have through mistake or
inadvertence failed or omitted duly to purchase or make compensation for,
shall be awarded by [the Lands Tribunal], and be paid, in like manner, as near
as may be, as the same would have been awarded and paid if the claim of such
estate, right, interest, or charge had been delivered to [the Lands Tribunal]
before the day fixed for the delivery of statements of claims.

If [the Lands Tribunal] is satisfied that the failure or omission to purchase
the said estate, right, interest, or charge, arose from any default on the
part either of the claimant or of the local authority, [the Lands Tribunal]
may direct the costs to be paid by the party so in default.

(4) In determining the amount of any disputed compensation [the Lands
Tribunal] shall have regard to the extent to which any remaining and
contiguous lands and hereditaments, belonging to the same proprietor, may be
benefited by the proposed work for which the land, to which the vesting order
relates, is acquired by the local authority.

(5) In determining the amount of any disputed compensation, [the Lands
Tribunal] shall not award any sum of money for or in respect of any
improvement or alteration made, or building erected, after the date of the
giving by the local authority of the notice prescribed for the purposes of
article two of this Schedule, if, in the opinion of [the Lands Tribunal], the
improvement, alteration or building, in respect of which the claim is made,
was made or erected with a view to obtaining or increasing compensation; nor,
in the case of any estate or interest created after the said date in any land
to which the vesting order relates, shall any sum of money be awarded so as to
increase the total amount of compensation which would otherwise have been
required to be paid in respect of the acquisition of such lands.

Sub-para.(6) rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

Para.14 rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

15. ... all costs, charges, and expenses (if any) which may be incurred by the
Ministry of Home Affairs in carrying the provisions of this Schedule into
execution, shall, after the amount thereof shall have been certified under
this article, be paid by the local authority. The amount of such..., costs,
charges, and expenses shall from time to time be certified by the said
Ministry after first hearing any objections that may be made to the
reasonableness of any such..., costs, charges and expenses by or on behalf of
the local authority; and every certificate of the said Ministry certifying the
amount of such fees, costs, charges, and expenses shall be taken as proof in
all proceedings at law or in equity of the amount of such respective...,
costs, charges, and expenses, and the amount so certified shall be a debt due
from the local authority to the Crown, and shall be recoverable accordingly.

Further, any such certificate may be made a rule of the High Court on the
application of any party named therein, and may be enforced accordingly.

16. When the amount of the compensation has been determined by [the Lands
Tribunal], the local authority shall publish in each of two successive weeks,
in some newspaper or newspapers circulating in the locality where the land
acquired is situate, a notice requiring all persons claiming any interest
therein to deliver to the local authority on or before a day to be named in
such notice (such day not being earlier than twenty-one days from the date of
the second publication of the notice) a short statement in writing of the
nature of such claim and a short abstract of the title on which the same is
founded.

17. Within thirty days from the delivery of such statement and abstract, the
local authority shall, where it appears to them that any person so claiming is
absolutely entitled to the interest in the compensation fund claimed by him,
pay to such person the compensation to which he is entitled, on obtaining from
him a receipt for the same in the prescribed form.

18.(1) The local authority, before paying out of the compensation fund to any
person any compensation (whether the amount thereof has been settled by
agreement or determined by [the Lands Tribunal]) shall obtain from that person
a receipt in the prescribed form which shall be prepared by, and executed at
the cost of, the local authority, and such receipt shall operate to release
the compensation fund from all claims by the person giving it and all parties
claiming through or under him.

(2) The local authority shall pay the costs of furnishing any statement,
abstract or other evidence of title required by them to be furnished by any
person claiming any interest in the compensation fund.

19.(1) Where the compensation payable (whether the amount thereof has been
settled by agreement or determined by [the Lands Tribunal]) to any person
claiming any interest in the compensation fund does not exceed the sum of
one hundred pounds, and the claimant makes a statutory declaration in the
prescribed form stating whether he claims as absolute or as limited owner, and
gives prima facie evidence which satisfies the local authority that for not
less than six years immediately preceding he, or his immediate predecessor in
title, has been personally or by an agent in receipt of the rents or profits
of the land in respect of which compensation is payable, or in actual
occupation thereof, the local authority may pay to the person claiming as
absolute owner the compensation payable for the interest in respect of which
he claims, and, in the case of a person claiming as limited owner of the
interest in respect of which he claims, the local authority may pay the
compensation payable for that interest to the trustees of the settlement under
which such limited owner claims, or, where there are no such trustees, may pay
such compensation into court in accordance with the provisions of article
twenty-one of this Schedule.

(2) Where any compensation not exceeding the sum of one hundred pounds is
payable in respect of an interest which is subject to any mortgage or charge
(not being a charge consisting of an annuity under the Land Purchase Acts, or
a charge in respect of any sums repayable in respect of a loan or advance made
by any Government department), the compensation may be paid to the person
entitled to the mortgage or charge, or, if there is more than one such
mortgage or charge, then to the person entitled to the mortgage or charge
which is first in priority, and the amount so paid shall be received in
reduction of the principal sum for the time being owing in respect of the
mortgage or charge, notwithstanding any direction, proviso or covenant to the
contrary contained in any instrument. Where the compensation is paid to a
mortgagee or chargeant, the receipt given by the mortgagee or chargeant shall
release the compensation fund from all claims by him and any subsequent
mortgagee or chargeant, and also from all claims by the person creating the
mortgage or charge and all persons claiming through or under that person.

(3) A memorandum of the amount paid under the last preceding paragraph shall,
when practicable, be endorsed on the instrument creating the mortgage or
charge, and shall be signed by the person receiving the compensation, and a
copy of the memorandum shall be furnished by the local authority at their
expense to all persons appearing to the local authority to be entitled to any
interest in the land subject to the mortgage or charge.

20. Any person claiming to be entitled to any money paid to another person
pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this Schedule may, within six years
after the payment has been made, on giving such notice as may be required by
rules of the Supreme Court, apply for relief... to the High Court where the
amount claimed exceeds one thousand pounds, or to the county court within the
jurisdiction of which the land in respect of which the money has been paid is
situate, where the amount claimed does not exceed one thousand pounds; and the
court may either dismiss the application, or give judgment or make a decree
against the local authority for the amount found due in respect of the claim,
and in the latter case the said amount shall be a debt due to the local
authority by the person to whom the money was paid by them, and arising at the
date of such judgment or decree.

21. If it appears to the local authority that any person claiming an interest
in the compensation fund is not absolutely entitled to that interest, or is
under any disability, or that his title is not satisfactorily deduced, or if
any such person refuses to produce his title, or to accept the compensation as
determined by [the Lands Tribunal], or if no claim has been made to the
compensation within a year after it has been determined, then

(a)if the total amount of the compensation does not exceed one thousand pounds
the local authority shall pay the money into the county court, and that court
shall have with respect thereto all the jurisdiction exerciseable by the High
Court under the Lands Clauses Acts;

(b)if the amount of the compensation exceeds one thousand pounds, the amount
payable by the local authority shall be paid, applied and dealt with in
accordance with the provisions of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845,
with respect to the purchase money or compensation coming to parties having
limited interests, or prevented from treating, or not making title, and those
provisions shall have effect accordingly.

Para.22 rep. by 1964 c.29 (NI) s.21 sch.3

[23. The local authority shall pay interest upon the compensation money, from
the date of vesting of the land in respect of which the compensation is
payable until the time of the payment of such money and interest to the party
entitled thereto, or, where such compensation is paid into court, then until
the sum with such interest is paid into court accordingly. The rate of
interest payable under this Article shall be such rate as may from time to
time be determined by the Ministry of Finance.]

24. The payment of the compensation in the manner provided by article
twenty-one of this Schedule shall operate to discharge the compensation fund
from all claims and interests in respect of which such compensation is
payable.

25. For the purposes of article twenty-one of this Schedule, section
seventy-two of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall have effect as
if "one hundred pounds" were substituted therein for "twenty pounds."

Para.26 rep. by 1959 c.25 (NI) s.154(3) sch.5

27. All notices required by this Schedule to be published shall be published
in a newspaper circulating within the area of the local authority, and where
no other form of service is prescribed a notice required to be served upon any
person may be served either by delivering it or leaving it at the usual or
last known place of abode of the person on whom it is to be served, or by
sending it by post as a registered letter addressed to him at his usual or
last known place of abode, or, if that cannot be found, by fixing it on some
conspicuous part of the land. Any such notice or document may be addressed, as
the case may require, to the "owner," "occupier," or "lessee" of the land
(describing it) without further name or description.

28. In this Schedule

The expression "land" includes any such land or lands, easements, rights,
buildings or other properties as the local authority has power to acquire
under section ten of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, or section two
hundred and two of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, as the case may be:

The expression "prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the
Ministry of Home Affairs.

Third Schedule rep. by SLR (NI) 1952
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Northern Irish Legislation

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1934 - SECT 48
