United Kingdom House of Lords Decisions

The Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company had already doubled its line from Glasgow to Kilwinning, and in contemplation of continuing the doubling from there to Ardrossan and to Ayr had acquired or was acquiring from time to time the necessary pieces of land, the object being to acquire before buildings had been erected on the land and so save future expense. This Order, inter alia, conferred powers for this purpose, including power to acquire compulsorily a piece of ground belonging to the Ayrshire Dockyard Company ( objectors), who alone opposed, other opposition having been withdrawn. The promoters restricted the amount of ground proposed to be taken to 39 of an acre, being a strip along the existing railway lines, 26 feet wide at its widest, and running into a point some 200–300 yards down the line. The objectors, a young and progressive company, had constructed their shipyard at Irvine in 1912, had had every available berth occupied since 1913, and had recently with a view to extension and the more complete equipment of their yard acquired additional land about 60 acres in extent, of which the strip in question formed part. Their grounds of objection were that the taking of this strip would wreck their scheme of extension by restricting the proposed site of their intended engine and boiler works, that nothing should at the present time be allowed to interfere with the development of naval construction works, and that the Railway Company could effect its purpose by acquiring land on the other side of their line.

The Commissioners found the preamble proved.

A clause was inserted by consent restricting the ground of the objectors which might be acquired to the limited amount, delineated on a plan, to be acquired only for the widening of the lines.