In British

planning law Town and country planning in the United Kingdom is the part of English land law which concerns land use planning. Its goal is to ensure sustainable economic development and a better environment. Each country of the United Kingdom has its own p ...

, the term safeguarding refers to provisions that protects future infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, utilities and other infrastructure projects from conflicting development. Safeguarding of a project doesn't prohibit development, it ensures that any development allows for the future infrastructure project to be built and protects the land that would make building a future project more difficult. Safeguarding of a particular project does not guarantee that the infrastructure will be built in future, and does not allow for

compulsory purchase Compulsion may refer to: * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by i ...

of land or the power to start construction. Those permissions have to be obtained through other legal processes, such as a

Transport and Works Act Order The Transport and Works Act 1992 (TWA) was established by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to provide a system by which the construction of rail transport, tramway, inland waterway and harbour infrastructure could proceed in the UK by orde ...

or a

Hybrid Bill In the United Kingdom a hybrid bill (which becomes a hybrid instrument or Hybrid Act) is a government measure which affects a particular individual or organisation in a different manner to other individuals or companies in the same class; it thus b ...

. Formal Safeguarding Directions to confirm the safeguard of a project are issued by the relevant Secretary of State. Examples of projects that have been safeguarded include

Crossrail 2 Crossrail 2 is a proposed hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit route in South East England, running from nine stations in Surrey to three in Hertfordshire, providing a new North–South rail link across Greater London. It would connect the S ...

Bakerloo line extension The Bakerloo line extension is a proposed extension of the London Underground Bakerloo line in South London from its current terminus at to Lewisham station. An extension southwards from Elephant & Castle was considered as early as 1913, with ...

and

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

Passive provision

Safeguarding can also refer to efforts to allow future infrastructure to built more easily - such as a straight piece of railway line at the location of a planned future station, or space for a future

service area Service area may refer to: * Rest area, a public facility, located next to a large thoroughfare such as a highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel * Service area (computing) In computing, data recovery is a process of r ...

on a

Motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

. This is sometimes referred to as 'passive provision'.

References

{{UK-planning-stub United Kingdom planning law