The following provisions have effect where there has come into force a compulsory purchase order made by a highway authority in the exercise of highway land acquisition powers and providing for the acquisition of a right over land and notice to treat in respect of the right has been served on a person having an interest in the land.
A person for the time being entitled to that interest ("the landowner") may, at any time within 6 weeks of service of the notice to treat, or such longer period as may be agreed in writing by the highway authority, but so long only as the notice has not been withdrawn, serve on the highway authority a counter-notice requiring them, instead of acquiring the right in question, to acquire instead his interest so far as it subsists in the land which is shown in the notice to treat as that over which the right is to be acquired.
As from the date of service of the landowner's counter-notice—
Nothing in this section prevents the highway authority from exercising any powers (and, in particular, any power of entry) which they have by virtue of having served notice to treat; and the operation of subsection (3) above does not prejudice any such power of the authority either as respects a previous exercise of it or as respects its continuance by virtue of sub-section (3)(b).