Report by the Joint committee of the House of Lords and the House of Commons on public sewers (contributions by frontagers) : together with the proceedings of the committee and minutes of evidence and speeches delivered by counsel.
- Great Britain. Parliament. Joint Committee on Public Sewers
- Date:
- 1936
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report by the Joint committee of the House of Lords and the House of Commons on public sewers (contributions by frontagers) : together with the proceedings of the committee and minutes of evidence and speeches delivered by counsel. Source: Wellcome Collection.
31/126 (page 3)
![13° Maii, 1936.] connect his drains to that sewer. Then Section 22 gives a right to owners and occupiers outside the district of a local authority to make connection with drains on agreed terms. I do not think that is really material. Now Section 23 is really important. This is the section which deals with the power of a local authority to enforce drainage of undrained houses. It is important to bear in mind exactly what the section provides, because it has some- times been misunderstood or mis-stated : ‘‘'Where any house within the district of a local authority is without a drain sufficient for effectual drainage, the local authority shall by written notice require the owner or occupier of such house, within a reasonable time therein speci- fied, to make a covered drain or drains emptying into any sewer which the local authority are entitled to use, and which is not more than one hundred feet from the site of such house; but if no such means of drainage are within that dis- tance, then emptying into such covered cesspool or other place not being under any house as_ the local authority direct; and the local authority may re- quire any such drain or drains to be of such materials and size ’’—and so on— ‘* Provided ’’—I am missing out the next paragraph, which I do not think is material—‘‘ that where, in the opinion of the local authority, greater expense would be incurred in causing the drains of two or more houses to empty into an existing sewer pursuant to this section, than in constructing a new sewer and causing such drains to empty therein, the local authority may construct such new sewer, and require the owners or occupiers of such houses to cause their drains to empty therein, and may appor- tion as they deem just the expenses of the construction of such sewer among the owners of the several houses, and recover in a summary manner the sums apportioned from such owners.’? Now, my Lord, that section does not enable a local authority to say to a house owner: ‘‘ You must connect your drains to a public sewer.’’ The only power they have under that section is if a house is not effectually drained, and if it is effectually drained they cannot do anything under the section Chairman.] Who decides whether it is effectually drained? Mr. Tyldesley Jones.]| Under this it would be a Court of Summary Juris- diction. Tf they find a house not [ Continued. — effectually drained they can say: ‘‘ Con- nect it to that sewer,’’ if there is a sewer within 100 feet, but if there is no sewer then they can only require the house to be connected to a_ cesspool. But if you have a house now connected to a cesspool, the local authority can- not say: ‘‘ You must give up that cess- pool and must connect your house to a public sewer.’? That is a little im- portant, as you will find when we come to consider the effect of the law as it stands to-day and the absence of all power, such as we are asking for, to compel landowners to contribute to the construction of new sewers where re- quired. Section 25 prohibits the build- ing of new houses in an Urban District unless drained to a sewer or cesspool, showing again that anybody in an Urban District having constructed a house anywhere, the local authority cannot say: ‘‘ That new house is to be connected to a sewer.’’ It can be con- nected to a cesspool. That is, again, subject to this, that if there is a sewer within 100 feet the local authority can say: ‘*‘ Connect the house to that sewer.’’ Section 26 prohibits the erec- tion of any building over a sewer; that, again, will be important later. Now I go to Section 150, which is one of the sections which deals with the case of constructing new sewers in the case of estates being developed. The marginal note is ‘‘ Power to compel paving etc., of private streets.’ It says: ‘‘ Where any street within any urban district (not being a highway repairable by the in- habitants at large)’’? your Lordship will note those words—‘“‘ or the carriageway footway or any other part of such street is not sewered levelled paved metalled flagged channelled ’’ etc., ‘‘or is not lighted to the satisfaction of the urban authority, such authority may, by notice addressed to the respective owners or occupiers of the premises fronting adjoin- ing or abutting on such parts thereof as may require to be _ sewered levelled paved metalled flagged or channelled, or to be lighted, required them to sewer level pave’’ etc., ‘‘ the same within a time to be specified in such _ notice. Before giving such notice the urban authority shall cause plans and sections of any structural works intended to be executed under this section, and an esti- mate of the probable cost thereof, to be made under the direction of their sur- veyor’’—such plans being to certain scale—‘‘ and in the case of a sewer, show- ing the depth of such sewer below the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32186022_0031.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
