Commentary on Sections Part 5 – Powers to Enter and Use Land Section 42 – Duty to remedy damage etc.
150.Section 42 ensures that the Scottish Ministers, before giving up temporary possession of land, remedy any damage that they have caused on that land and ensure that they leave that land in a state of security that is no worse than when they took possession. The character of the land may be fundamentally changed as a consequence of its temporary use and consequently the Scottish Ministers under subsection (2) are not obliged to replace any building, apparatus or vegetation that was removed from land in order to facilitate the purposes for which the Scottish Ministers required possession. Part 6 of the Act makes provision for compensating landowners for losses incurred.