Working with you to gather information
We’ll need to access, survey and use some land to construct and operate the Grand Union Canal Transfer scheme.
To help us make the best-informed decisions as we further develop our land requirements for the scheme, we’ve been contacting surrounding land and property, to gather as much information as possible. During our Phase Two Public Consultation, which ran for seven weeks between the 11 February and the 2 April 2026, we shared more information about the land we think we’ll require and asked for feedback and opinions on our proposals. This feedback, as well as ongoing design work, technical and environmental assessments and surveys, will help us to refine our plans. You can visit our Consultation materials page for more information about the scheme.
Our land consultant, Fisher German, may have sent you a Land Interest Questionnaire (LIQ) to help us gather information or sent you a notification about the Phase Two Public Consultation. This includes contacting all relevant persons with any interest in potentially affected land, for example, people who live close to it or may have a right of way to it, and/or may be disturbed by works on it.
In the main part, most of the land will only require temporary access and the land we’ll need to acquire permanently will be minimal.
Gathering this vital information and getting your feedback will help us to minimise any impacts of the scheme, wherever possible, and refine our land requirements further. We’ll also continue to engage and consult with other statutory consultees, such as the local authorities and the Environment Agency as well as the wider community throughout the process.
We’ll continue to keep you informed as the scheme moves forward, and we encourage you (or your representatives) to get in touch with us at any time if you have questions or would like to discuss anything further. Contact details are at the bottom of this page.
Answering your questions
Some of your more frequently asked questions are set out below. For those questions requiring longer answers, we’ve provided links to documents in our Resources library in the Land & Property space of our Resources page.
What are Land Interest Questionnaires (LIQs)?
Fisher German, our land consultant for the Grand Union Canal Transfer scheme, are requesting information regarding land that you own and/or occupy or have an interest in, because it has been highlighted as being in close proximity to the potential area of works for the proposed scheme.
To help us make the best-informed decisions, we need to gather as much information as possible from surrounding landowners. Fisher German are responsible for contacting all relevant persons with any interest in potentially affected land. So, they may be in touch with a Land Interest Questionnaire (or LIQ) to request some details from you.
They have suggested a 21-day response period to try and ensure timely responses, however, please be assured there will be no action taken if they don’t hear from you within that time period. They will attempt to contact you again if they haven’t received a reply. All data from the LIQ will be held securely and shared only for the purposes of the scheme and will comply with any GDPR concerns you may have.
Do you have permission to access land and carry out surveys?
The Land team tries to reach voluntary agreement to access land for surveys whenever possible.
If agreement to access land for surveying and investigation works cannot be reached voluntarily, Section 172 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 allows the acquiring authority entry to survey land where there is a proposal to acquire an interest in or right over land.
For more information about advanced compensation in recognition of any potential disturbance which could be caused as a result of the surveys and investigative work undertaken, visit our Payment schedule for Survey and Investigation Works document.
Will I be compensated for surveys?
In addition to the advanced compensation payments set out above, the project will meet the reasonable professional fees of an agent
acting on behalf of a landowner and/or occupier. Visit our Guidance on Payment of Surveyors’ Fees Document.
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