Jurisdiction: England & Wales
Commencement: 6th April 2023
Amends: Highways Act 1980 (c. 66)
The Highways Act 1980 (c. 66) sets out powers of different classes of highway authorities. It defines their powers for the creation and maintenance of highways, their adoption and recovery of costs, control over interference with the highway, stopping up and regulation of use.
Section 161 covers the offence for lighting a fire not on a highway, but which subsequently causes interference with the highway.
Duties
The Highways Act does not apply to highways constructed using Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 (CTRL Act) powers as CTRL Act authorised the construction, alteration and stopping up of highways. The CTRL Act sets out the protective provisions for the local highway authority in relation to the approval of designs and specificiactions, consents to works and adoption of highways, highways structures and other highway features. CTRL Act disapplies paragraphs 141 (planting near to the highway), 167 (retaining wall near to highways), 169/1 scaffolding over or adjoining a highway.
In order to ensure continuity across legislation, technical changes are made.
The relevant authority* is required to notify the street works authority when it grants approval for a building application where the building is in an advance payments code area**.
Welsh Ministers are now provided with their own power to make amendments for Wales.
*The relevant authority is either the Building Safety Regulator or the local authority.
**An advance payment code area is an area where building developers are required to pay a fee to cover costs in case the development is not up to standards.
There are no changes to duties for organisations; the duties are held by the local authority.
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