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
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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.

    32/126 (page 4)
    13° Maii, 1936.] surface of the ground: such plans sec- tions and estimate shall be deposited in the office of the urban authority, and shall be open at all reasonable hours for the inspection of all persons interested therein during the time specified in such notice; and a reference to such plans and sections in such notice shall be sufficient without requiring any copy of such plans and sections to be annexed to such notice. If such notice is not complied with, the urban authority may, if they think fit, execute the works mentioned or referred to therein; and may recover in a summary manner the expenses incurred by them in so doing from the owners in default, according to the frontage of their respective premises, and in such _ pro- portion as is settled by the surveyor of the urban authority, or (in case of dis- pute) by arbitration in manner provided by this Act; or the urban authority may by order declare the expenses so incurred to be private improvement expenses.”’ In which case they are charged on the estate, under Section 257. Chairman.| In fact that is the usual practice, is it notP Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| Except where the later Act, the Private Street Works Act, has been adopted. There are two codes; there is this one in Section 150, which is considered to be rather out-of-date ; there is the other code in the Act of 1929, which is an adoptive Act, and the local authority may adopt it or not. Lord Macmillan.| Is it not important to keep in view that according to the general law there are two categories con- cerned from the point of view of sewerage, those which are made in streets which are repairable by the inhabitants at large, and those which are not, and that there is a different code applicable to these two? Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| No, my Lord. I want to point out that Section 150, as your Lordship sees, is dealing with private streets. Lord Macmillan. |] Exactly. Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| So is the other. Lord Macmillan.] Yes, they are both dealing with private streets. Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| Yes. Lord Macmillan.] But there are the two. categories ? Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| Yes, that is right. The position is this, if I may put the point shortly, now. Under either [ Continued. Section 150 or the Act of 1892, if an estate is developed and sewers have to be laid in streets that are not repairable by the inhabitants at large, the land- owner can be compelled to pay. If, on the other hand, a sewer is laid for the purposes of his estate in a street which is repairable by the inhabitants at large, the landowner cannot be required to pay a penny. Lord Macmillan.] And then with regard to those that are not repairable by the inhabitants at large, there are two existing systems, one in the Act of 1875, Section 150, and the other in the more recent code of the Private Street Works Act. Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| That is so, and, of course, it is common knowledge that it is intended to introduce a new code which will sweep away the two. Chairman.] What Section is that of the Act of 1892? Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| The whole Act. I am afraid I shall have to draw your Lordship’s attention, roughly, to the scheme of the Act. You will see that the Act of 1892 defines ‘‘ street ’’’? in such a way as to exclude streets repairable by the inhabitants at large. It is in Section 5 of the Act of 1892: ‘ The expression ‘street’ means (unless the context otherwise requires) a street as defined by the Public Health Acts, and not being a highway repairable by the inhabitants at large.’’ Sir Henry Cautley.] Are we concerned with sewers under roads that are not repairable by the inhabitants at large? Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| No. Sir Henry Cautley.| We are only con- cerned with sewers under public roads repairable by the inhabitants at large? Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| Yes. The point is that what these Clauses do is, they do apply to roads which are revairable by the inhabitants at large the same provisions with the necessary adapta- tions. Sir Henry Cautley.] I am aware of that. Mr. Tyldesley Jones.| The law as regards the laying of sewers under what I will call private streets if I may and the cost of them is satisfactory to local authorities, and what we are here to say is that it is not reasonable to say that the landowners—estate developers, they are, really—should get the benefit