The Act – an Overview Part 1  Access Rights Section 16:  Acquisition by local authority of land to enable or facilitate exercise of access rights
71.Subsection (1) enables local authorities to acquire land either by agreement or, with the consent of Ministers, compulsorily, where necessary or expedient to enable or facilitate the exercise of access rights.
72.Subsection (2) prevents certain land in respect of which access rights are not exercisable from being acquired under this section.
73.Subsection (3) requires the local authority to hold and manage any land acquired under this section in a way that best facilitates the exercise of access rights.
74.Subsection (4) applies to any compulsory acquisition of land the procedures set out in the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) (Scotland) Act 1947 (c.42), which generally apply to the compulsory purchase of land by local authorities.