Commentary on Sections Provision in orders authorising compulsory acquisition Section 71 – Commons, open spaces etc: compulsory acquisition of rights over land
196.Section 71 applies to land forming part of a common, open space or fuel or field garden allotment. This section provides that an infrastructure consent order that authorises the compulsory acquisition of a new right over such land will be subject to special Senedd procedure unless the Welsh Ministers are satisfied that one of the following applies:
	the order land when burdened with the order right will be no less advantageous than it was before to the person in whom it is vested, any other persons (if any) entitled to rights of common or other rights, and the public;
	replacement land has been or will be given in exchange for the order right and that land has been or will be vested in the persons in which the order land is vested and that replacement land will be subject to the same rights, trusts and incidents as the order land;
	where the land is open space only, there is no suitable land to be given in exchange for the order right or any suitable land is only available at a prohibitive cost, and it is in the public interest for development to be begun sooner than is likely to be possible if the order were subject to special Senedd procedure;
	where the land is open space only, and it is being acquired for a temporary purpose;
	the land over which the right is being acquired does not exceed 200 square metres, or the right is required in connection with the widening or drainage of an existing highway (or in connection partly with the widening and partly with the drainage of such a highway) and the giving of land in exchange for the order right is unnecessary in the interest of the person entitled to rights of common or other rights or in the interests of the public.
197.Where the Welsh Ministers are satisfied that one of these exceptions applies, they must record that fact in the order or otherwise in the instrument or other document containing the order.
198.In this section, “order right” means the right authorised to be compulsorily acquired, and “order land” means the land over which the order right is to be exercisable. “Replacement land” means land which will be adequate to compensate the persons mentioned in the definition of “replacement land” in subsection (9) for disadvantages which would apply to them as a result of the compulsory acquisition of a new right over land.