Who decides these wayleaves bt/or and the land owner?
It's basically mutual consent and negotiation - almost like true business to business stuff outside the scope of consumer protection and unfair contracts.
Utility wants access to your land either for above or below ground installations and for its care and maintenance, you want payment for their use of it to compensate you for things like aggro, inconvenience and possible loss of x square meters. How often they need access will feature heavily in negotiations.
So you try and come to some agreement. If you over-cook your demands the result may be that rather than getting some reasonable sum either one-off lump or an annual 'rent' they will decide it is better not to deal with you and go and put their kit elsewhere.
I believe it is generally assumed that on rural public roads the council owns the first meter of verge from the road edge and any further green verge beyond that (if not already a hedge/fence boundary) is owned by the frontager as it is called - is the landowner behind.
