Poor property developer, Wallace Frame, has reportedly now been in a six year fight with Scottish Power over underground electricity lines which, he says, are preventing him from developing his land.
Mr Frame apparently had no idea the cables existed when he bought the land. Although shocking (electricity, you get it?!) this may well be true and isn’t as unusual as you might think…
Electricity lines are usually put in place through wayleaves. In essence, these are contractual arrangements between the utility company and the landowner. They are not registered and are not binding on any future landowner. As they are not registered, they won’t show up on any legal searches. As such, unless the seller discloses the existence of such an agreement (which they should be obliged to do under missives) then the existence of the lines will remain hidden. Although a wayleave does not bind future owners, the lines will still be there so what can someone like Mr Frame do?
Well, an owner or occupier can serve a notice requiring the removal of electricity lines. Unfortunately, however that wouldn’t be the end of the story. Legislation provides utility companies with compulsory purchase powers. As such, on receipt of such a notice the electricity company can simply seek a “necessary wayleave” from the Scottish Ministers. If granted, the lines would remain.
It’s not all bad news for Mr Frame however. If the Scottish Ministers grant the necessary wayleave he will be entitled to compensation which will take into account his development aspirations (if he has planning permission for his proposals all the better but even if not he may still be entitled to hope value).
The statutory right to compensation under the Electricity Act 1989 is apparently not payable however for the period of time between a notice to remove being served and the necessary wayleave being granted (Patersons of Greenoakhill Ltd v SP Transmission Ltd). This may mean that even if Mr Frame is successful and gets the lines removed he may not be compensated for all his years of fighting. Of course if the land really is capable of development then it should still be worthwhile….
The hearing in this case takes place this week. I’ll keep you posted!!
p.s. – In this blog I have only referred to the procedure in relation to the provision of services under the Electricity Act 1989. Just to make things difficult, different legislation governs the process for the different utilities, e.g, Gas Act 1986 for Gas and the Water (Scotland) Act 1980 for Water. Unfortunately, there is not simply one set of rules for all utility providers.
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im in a simular position as mr.frame,i would like his out come please? does the laws apply the same in flintshire as scotland with regards to the eletricity laws
As far as I’m aware no decision has been issued as yet however I am monitoring the situation and will hopefully be able to blog the outcome when we have it. In the meantime the case I reference above might be of interest to you – it is also a pretty recent decision. The Electricity Act 1989 is a UK Act and the provisions I refer to above apply in both England and Scotland. As I state above however the Electricity Act only governs the procedure where we are talking about electricity lines not gas or water pipes etc.
Do you have any updates on what happened with this. I would like to give SP networks a removal notice but i need help on this, can you point me in the right direction
thanks
I understand that the wayleave was granted, which wouldn’t be unusual. I’ve asked the Energy Consents Unit to send me a copy of the Reporter’s recommendation as it isn’t available on the Government’s website. I’ll post another comment to confirm the position once I receive that. Unfortunately that won’t say anything about compensation which might be more interesting!
The procedure in these cases is governed by Schedule 4 of the Electricity Act 1989 but it’s the sort of thing that you would be best to take detailed advice on. If you would like to take it further please feel free to contact one of our planning team members to discuss – details on the website.