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Land acquisition and compensation

Welsh Assembly Government
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Land acquisition and compensation

The Welsh Assembly Government acquires and manages land for the trunk road motorway network in Wales.

Responsibilities in this area include:

  • Paying compensation to landowners affected by road construction and maintenance.
  • Dealing with claims for personal injury or damage to property that arise in the course of trunk road and motorway work.
  • Taking legal action against drivers who damage barriers, road signs, etc.
  • Managing programmes to insulate properties that qualify under the Noise Insulation Regulations (1975) against noise from road works and traffic.  

Land acquisition

Compulsory purchase is the main means of acquiring land for highways. In some cases where minor road schemes involve small numbers of landowners, land is acquired on the basis of agreement.

The Assembly Government’s main concerns with regard to land acquisition are twofold:

  • To apply the relevant legislation and policy consistently and fairly.  
  • To protect as far as reasonably possible the rights of those affected.

A brief description of how it works
 Limitation applied to land acquisition - how the process affects your claim (pdf, 13 KB)


Land management   

Land and property acquisitions that are surplus to the requirements for trunk road and motorway programmes must be properly managed.

The Assembly Government currently manages some 79 residential properties, 12 commercial and agricultural businesses, and 21 areas of land. These bring in around £325,000 annually against yearly costs of £220,000 for maintenance, repairs, letting, and other management expenses.

Some land and property is sold if it remains unused after acquisition for works on the trunk roads and motorway network. There are about 40 such sales annually. In 2006 – 2007 they will produce income of around £2 million.

Your rights explained

Your home and compulsory purchase (pdf, 111 KB)
Your home and nuisance from public development (pdf, 137 KB)
 Your Business and Public Development (pdf, 108 KB)
 The farmer and public development (pdf, 133 KB)
Insulation against traffic noise (pdf, 142 KB).

Advance Payment Pack (pdf 62 KB)
Form PL8 (pdf, 14Kb)
Claim in Answer to a Notice to Treat (34 KB)