A12 Chelmsford to A120, Widening Development Consent Order

Notice of authorisation of compulsory acquisition under section 134(7) of the Planning Act 2008

THE A12 CHELMSFORD TO A120 WIDENING DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER 2024

For the attention of persons occupying or having an interest in the land described below

Notice of authorisation of compulsory acquisition

The above Order, made under the Planning Act 2008 by the Secretary of State for Transport and published on 12 January 2024, includes provision authorising the compulsory acquisition of land, of existing rights over land, and of rights over land by creating new rights over it, as described in Schedule 1 to this notice.

The Order includes provision authorising the acquisition for the purpose of the construction, operation and maintenance of the A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme ("the Scheme"), which comprises the widening of the existing A12 in Essex to three lanes throughout in each direction between junctions 19 (Boreham Interchange) and 25 (Marks Tey), where it is not already three lanes. This will mainly involve online widening of the existing carriageway, together with new offline highway created between junctions 22 and 23 (Rivenhall End Bypass) and between junctions 24 and 25 (Kelvedon to Marks Tey). It will be accompanied by junction improvements (junctions 19 and 25), construction of new junctions catering for traffic movements both northbound and southbound (new junctions 21, 22 and 24 at Hatfield Peverel, Witham East and Kelvedon respectively), and removal of existing junctions 20a, 20b and 23. The proposals include the diversion and alteration of a high-pressure gas main, east of Witham, which is also a nationally significant infrastructure project in its own right.

The Scheme, defined in article 2 of the Order as the "authorised development", also includes the following associated and ancillary matters:

- Improvements to existing local roads, including Kelvedon Road, Inworth;

- Drainage and attenuation ponds;

- New bridges over the A12;

- Improvements to the cycling, footpath and bridleway network;

- De-trunking of lengths of the existing A12 at Rivenhall End and between Kelvedon and Marks Tey;

- Alteration, creation, extinguishment or suspension of highways;

- Creation, stopping up and alteration of accesses to highways;

- Traffic regulation measures;

- Diversion and alteration of existing above-ground cables;

- Removal, disposal, replacement or re-siting of pipes, cables, conduits and apparatus;

- Removal of trees, hedgerows and vegetation;

- Operation and management of the A12;

- Discharge of waters into inland waters or underground strata;

- Creation of borrow pits to provide aggregates for constructing the Scheme;

- Disapplication of byelaws and local legislation; and

- Acquisition and use of open space land and provision of replacement land.

A copy of the Order as made by the Secretary of State for Transport (together with the Secretary of State's Decision Letter and the Examining Authority's Report of Recommendation), and a copy of the Land Plans and the Book of Reference referred to in the Order, together with National Highways' Statement of Reasons in support of the Order, can all be viewed online, free of charge, on the A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/eastern/a12-chelmsford-to-a120-widening-scheme/

Hard copies of the above-mentioned documents will be made available for public inspection as soon as practicable and at all reasonable hours at the libraries listed below. The libraries' opening times may be subject to change (we recommend that you contact the libraries to check before visiting).

Chelmsford Library

County Hall, Market Road, Chelmsford, CM11QH

Monday 9am to 5.30pm, Tuesday 9am to 5.30pm, Wednesday 9am to 5.30pm, Thursday Closed, Friday 9am to 5.30pm, Saturday 9am to 5.00pm, Sunday 10.30am to 1.30pm

Colchester Library

Trinity Square, Colchester, CO1 1JB

Monday 9am to 5:30pm, Tuesday 9am to 5:30pm, Wednesday 9am to 7pm, Thursday 9am to 5:30pm, Friday 9am to 5:30pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 1pm to 4pm

Kelvedon Library

Aylett's Foundation School, Maldon Road, Kelvedon, CO5 9BA

Monday 2pm to 5:30pm, Tuesday Closed, Wednesday Closed, Thursday 9am to 1pm, Friday Closed, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday Closed

Witham Library

18 Newland Street, Witham, CM8 2AQ

Monday 9am to 5:30pm, Tuesday 9am to 5:30pm, Wednesday 9am to 7pm, Thursday 9am to 5:30pm,

Friday 9am to 5:30pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday Closed

Electronic copies (on USB) of the documents can be provided free of charge; if you require the documents on a USB, please contact National Highways to make your request via one of the contact options below and please also confirm the address to which you would like the USB to be delivered:

- Email: A12ChelmsfordA120wide@nationalhighways.co.uk

- Post: FREEPOST A12 WIDENING, A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme Project Team, National Highways, Woodlands (First Floor), Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7LW

- Telephone: 0300 123 5000 (please select 'Option 3')

Alternatively, you can request hard copies from National Highways, using the contact details above. When making a request for hard copies, please specify which documents you require (please note that only relevant excerpts of the Land Plans and the Book of Reference will be made available in hard copy) and the address to which you would like them to be delivered.

A person aggrieved by the Order may challenge the Order only in accordance with section 118 of the Planning Act 2008, which stipulates that any proceeding must be brought by filing a claim form for judicial review before the end of the period of 6 weeks beginning with the day after the day on which the Order was published (or, if later, the day on which the statement of reasons for making the Order was published).

Once the provision in the Order authorising compulsory acquisition comes into force, National Highways may acquire any of the land (including any existing rights and/or new rights) described in Schedule 1 below by executing a general vesting declaration under section 4 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981. A statement of the effect of Parts 2 and 3 of that Act is set out in Schedule 2 to this notice.

Any person who would be entitled to claim compensation if a general vesting declaration were executed is invited to give National Highways information (by post, addressing the enclosed reply envelope to FREEPOST A12 WIDENING, A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme Project Team, National Highways, Woodlands (First Floor), Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7LW; or by email to A12ChelmsfordA120wide@nationalhighways.co.uk) about the person's name, address and interest in land, using a prescribed form. The prescribed form is set out in Schedule 3 to this notice.

Schedule 1

Description of the land, existing rights and the new rights

The Order land (as defined in article 2 of the A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Development Consent Order 2024 ("the Order")) is shown on the Land Plans and a short textual description of each numbered plot (as identified on the Land Plans) is included in the Book of Reference. The powers of compulsory acquisition authorised by the Order relate to so much of the Order land as is shown shaded pink, shaded blue, shaded yellow and shaded purple on the land plans ("the land subject to powers of compulsory acquisition"). The Order land is required to enable the construction, operation and maintenance of the Scheme. The Scheme is situated within the counties of Essex and Suffolk. The A12 provides the main south-west/north-east route through Essex and Suffolk, connecting Ipswich to London and the M25.

In respect of the land subject to powers of compulsory acquisition, the Order authorises National Highways to:

a) acquire so much of the Order land as is specified by article 27 (compulsory acquisition of land) of the Order for the authorised development, or to facilitate it, or as is incidental to it;

b) acquire such rights over the Order land, by creating them as well as by acquiring rights already in existence, and impose such restrictive covenants over the Order land as is authorised by article 30 (compulsory acquisition of rights and imposition of restrictive covenants) of the Order;

c) extinguish existing private rights over land acquired and extinguish existing rights insofar as their continuance is inconsistent with a right acquired, or a restrictive covenant imposed, under the Order;

d) in the case of the Order land specified in column (1) of Schedule 5 to the Order (land in which new rights etc. may be acquired), acquire such wayleaves, easements, new rights in the land or the imposition of restrictive covenants as may be required for or in connection with the authorised development for the purposes specified in column (2) of Schedule 5 in relation to the numbered works identified in column (3) of Schedule 5; and

e) acquire so much of the subsoil of and airspace over the land referred to in paragraph (1) of article 27 (compulsory acquisition of land) as may be required for any purpose for which that land may be acquired under that provision instead of acquiring the whole of the land.

This notice relates to so much of the land subject to powers of compulsory acquisition authorised by the Order as is described in the Book of Reference and as is shown on the Land Plans where it is:

- shaded pink (denoting permanent acquisition of all interests in land);

- shaded blue (denoting new rights to be acquired permanently);

- shaded yellow (denoting permanent acquisition of all interests in the airspace); and

- shaded purple (denoting permanent acquisition of all interests in the subsoil).

Schedule 2

Statement of the effect of Parts 2 and 3 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981

Power to execute a general vesting declaration

1. Once the provision in the A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Development Consent Order 2024 ("the Order") which authorises compulsory acquisition comes into force, the acquiring authority (hereinafter called National Highways) may acquire any of the land (including any existing rights and/or new rights) described in Schedule 1 above by executing a general vesting declaration under section 4 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981 ("the Act") as modified by the Order. This has the effect, subject to paragraphs 3 and 5 below, of vesting the land in National Highways at the end of the period mentioned in paragraph 2 below.

Notices concerning general vesting declaration

2. As soon as may be after National Highways execute a general vesting declaration, they must serve notice of it on every occupier of any of the land specified in the declaration (except land where there is one of the tenancies described in paragraph 4) and on every person who gives them information relating to the land in pursuance of the invitation contained in the notice of the authorisation of compulsory acquisition. When the service of notices of the general vesting declaration is completed, a period specified in the declaration, of not less than three months, will begin to run. On the first day after the end of this period the land described in the declaration will, subject to what is said in paragraphs 3 and 5, vest in National Highways together with the right to enter on the land and take possession of it. Every person on whom National Highways could have served a notice to treat in respect of his interest in the land (other than a tenant under one of the tenancies described in paragraph 4) will be entitled to claim compensation for the acquisition of his interest in the land, with interest on the compensation from the vesting date.

3. The "vesting date" for any land specified in the declaration will be the first day after the end of the period mentioned in paragraph 2 above unless a counter-notice is served under Schedule A1 to the Act within that period. In such circumstances, the vesting date for the land which is the subject of the counter-notice will be determined in accordance with Schedule A1.

Modifications with respect to certain tenancies

4. In the case of certain tenancies, the position stated above is subject to modifications. The modifications apply where the tenancy is either a "minor tenancy", i.e. a tenancy for a year or a yearly tenancy or a lesser interest, or a "long tenancy which is about to expire". The latter expression means a tenancy granted for an interest greater than a minor tenancy but having on the vesting date a period still to run which is not more than the period specified in the declaration for this purpose (which must be more than a year). In calculating how long a tenancy has still to run, where any option to renew or to terminate it is available to either party, it shall be assumed that the landlord will take every opportunity open to him to terminate the tenancy while the tenant will use every opportunity to retain or renew his interest.

5. The modifications are that National Highways may not exercise the right of entry referred to in paragraph 2 in respect of land subject to a tenancy described in paragraph 4 unless they first serve notice to treat in respect of the tenancy and then serve every occupier of the land with a notice of their intention to enter and take possession after the period (not less than three months from the service of the notice) specified in the notice. The right of entry will be exercisable at the end of that period. The vesting of the land will be subject to the tenancy until the end of that period or until the tenancy comes to an end, whichever happens first.

Signed:

Philip Davie

Project Director

A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme

For and on behalf of National Highways

Date: 15 January 2024

Schedule 3

Form for giving information

The A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Development Consent Order 2024

To: The A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme Project Team at National Highways, either:

By post: FREEPOST A12 WIDENING, A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme Project Team, National Highways, Woodlands (First Floor), Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7LW; or

By email: A12ChelmsfordA120wide@nationalhighways.co.uk

Reference: [insert plan reference]

[I][We](delete as applicable) being [a person][persons](delete as applicable) who, if a general vesting declaration were executed under section 4 of the Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981 in respect of all the land comprised in the order cited above in respect of which notice to treat has not been given, would be entitled to claim compensation in respect of [all][part of] (delete as applicable) that land, give you the following information, pursuant to section 134(7)(cza) of the Planning Act 2008.

1. Name and address of informant(s) (see explanatory note (i) below)

2. Land in which an interest is held by informant(s) (see explanatory note (ii) below)

3. Nature of interest (see explanatory note (iii) below)

4. Details of any tenancy arrangements affecting the land/property (if different from interests identified at #3 above - see note (iv) below)

Signed:

On behalf of:

Date:

GUIDANCE NOTES ON HOW TO COMPLETE THIS FORM Filling in the Form

(i) In the case of a joint interest insert the names and addresses of all the informants

- 'Informants' means the person(s) completing this form to provide National Highways with information about land ownership/interests in land.

- Where the form is being completed by an agent acting on behalf of a landowner or occupier, please also provide the name(s) of the landowner(s) or occupier(s) (and please specify which person is the agent and which is the landowner/occupier).

(ii) The land should be described concisely

- It may be helpful to refer to the relevant plot numbers used to identify the land in the Schedule to the above notice.

(iii) If the land is leasehold, the date of commencement and length of term should be given. If the land is subject to a mortgage or other encumbrance, details should be given, e.g. name of building society and roll number.

(iv) If providing information about a tenancy (where this has not already been given in response to question 3) please provide details of the type or length of the tenancy and the basis (if any) on which it may be renewed (e.g. if it is a tenancy which runs from year to year, or for any shorter or longer period). Please also provide details of the length of the remaining term of the tenancy.

Returning the Form

Please complete the Form for giving information (at Schedule 3 to the notice) and return it to National Highways, A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme, either:

- by post (sending it to FREEPOST A12 WIDENING, A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Scheme Project Team, National Highways, Woodlands (First Floor), Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7LW); or

- by email (sending a scanned copy by email to the email address at the top of the form).

Handling of personal data

National Highways, its subsidiaries and service providers, will process your personal information for the purpose of implementing the A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening Development Consent Order 2024, including its compulsory acquisition powers, and to comply with related Government guidelines. Your personal information will be properly safeguarded and processed in accordance with the requirements of privacy and data protection legislation. To find out more about how National Highways handles personal data please visit https://nationalhighways.co.uk/about-us/privacy-notice/.