§ SIR HENRY PEEKasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If he is aware that the proposal of the 1902 Battersea Burial Board to purchase nearly forty acres of land near Wandsworth Common, in the parish of Wandsworth, has caused great consternation among the ratepayers, inasmuch as there are already seven cemeteries in or close to Wandsworth, and one on the borders of that parish for Battersea; that the establishment of another cemetery for a thickly populated parish would not only be prejudicial to a large amount of rateable property, but also in contravention to the intention of the Burial Acts; if he has been informed that the matter is strongly opposed by the ratepayers of Battersea on account of the large price to be paid for the land; if it be known that the land in question has a subsoil of clay; and, if he will be so good as to cause immediate and full inquiries to be made into the subject?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURTI have already caused inquiry to be made in this matter. Dr. Hoffman, the Inspector of Burial Grounds, has made a Report to me, the conclusion of which is that he considers it his duty to recommend that the approval of the Secretary of State should not be given to the establishment of a cemetery on the proposed site, and I may say that the site will not be approved.