HL Deb 23 March 1877 vol 233 cc367-71
THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDON,

on rising to move for a Select Committee— To inquire into the operation of existing statutes in regard to the formation of and proceedings by Commissioners of Sewers and Conservancy Drainage and River Navigation Boards; to consider by what means such bodies may be more conveniently and inexpensively constituted, their procedure improved, and their powers enlarged, so as to provide more efficiently for storage of water, the prevention of floods, and the discharge of other functions appertaining to such Boards, said, their Lordships had all more or less reason to know the state in which the country had been during the past autumn and winter in consequence of the great prevalence of floods in many parts of the country, and therefore they would not be surprised that the Government had taken up the question. The first proposal for dealing with the subject originated in a Notice of Motion that was given in the other House of Parliament from an independent Member; but the terms of that Motion were much more limited than the terms of the reference which he (the Duke of Richmond and Gordon) would have the honour of submitting to their Lordships. Her Majesty's Government thought it desirable that the terms of the proposal should be extended and enlarged, because while a measure for preventing the Pollution of Rivers passed last year, several clauses of that Act as it was originally presented, dealing with the constitution of Conservancy Boards, were struck out, it being thought better that the matters to which they related should be dealt with in a future Session and in another manner. The Government proposed, therefore, that those matters should come within the Reference to the Committee for which he was about to move. The constitution of Commissioners of Sewers and of Conservancy and Irrigation Boards was regulated by various Acts going as far back as the reign of Henry VIII.; but the first attempt made to grapple with the subject in any large manner was by an Act passed in the 24th and 25th years of the reign of Her Majesty the Queen. The floods which had occurred in several parts of this country, and more especially in the valley of the Thames, seemed to have re-appeared at various intervals—in 1821, 1852, 1875, and 1877 for instance—and their recurrence showed that while the powers vested in Commissioners of Sewers and in Conservancy Boards might be useful, and perhaps sufficient, for ordinary purposes, they certainly were not adequate to grapple with the difficulties that arose under extraordinary circumstances. The Conservators of the Thames had pointed out as much. In their Report presented to the Board of Trade, February 16, 1877, the Conservators of the River Thames stated that— In all ordinary floods the improvements made at various places and the stringent regulations as to opening the tackle at the weirs … leave no just ground for complaint. But they added— The capacity of the river being insufficient to carry off excessive floods caused by an enormous quantity of rain falling in a comparatively short time, the water must necessarily spread over the low-lying riparian districts. After dwelling on the long intervals at which extraordinary floods recurred, with the exception of the present and last year, and the great expense which would be entailed by the construction of "impounding reservoirs" or any like scheme, they went on to say— If excessive floods are to be dealt with, a searching preliminary inquiry should be instituted, for it is manifest that large powers and ample funds only to be obtained by an Act of Parliament, must be provided if all the low-lying lands in the Thames Valley are to be secured against every possible inundation. This appeared to him a matter very well worth the attention of a Select Committee; and it seemed natural that, at the same time that the prevention of floods was under consideration, attention should be called to the storage of water for drinking and other purposes. Much valuable evidence upon this subject would be found in the Report of the Pollution of Rivers Commission, which was made in 1874. In the final conclusions and recommendations of that Commission it was stated that— The supply of villages and hamlets with wholesome water is often a problem of great difficulty, since the number of inhabitants is too small to permit of the execution of expensive works for such an object. We therefore recommend that in any scheme for the utilization for town supply of the pure water of a river basin the wants of all neighbouring villages and hamlets should be provided for as far as practicable; and we further recommend that the owners of land should be permitted to include the cost of village water-supply among those expenditures on land improvements which they are now enabled with the sanction of your Majesty's Inclosure Commissioners to charge upon their estates. There was another subject which deserved attention—namely, the functions of the Navigation Boards now in existence. Those Boards had been incorporated from time to time in various Acts of Parliament dealing with the navigation of inland rivers and canals; but, in consequence of the construction of railways, navigation on the canals and rivers in charge of those Boards had, in many cases, lost their raison d'être. In reference to the Wye and another river there were no fewer than four Acts of Parliament; but during the last 20 years not a single Commissioner had been appointed, or any other authority, to see to the enforcement of the provisions of those Acts in the interests of the Public. He thought their Lordships would agree with the Government that all the matters which he had briefly indicated were well worthy of reference to the Select Committee.

Moved that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the operation of existing statutes in regard to the formation of and proceedings by Commissioners of Sewers, and Conservancy, Drainage, and River Navigation Boards: To consider by what means such bodies may be more conveniently and inexpensively constituted, their procedure improved, and their powers enlarged so as to provide more efficiently for storage of water, the prevention of floods, and the discharge of other functions appertaining to such Boards.—(The Lord President.)

THE MARQUESS OF RIPON

said, he entirely agreed with the noble Duke as to the importance of the subject. He had no doubt that the greater prevalence of floods in recent times was in part attributable to the improvement in surface drainage, which caused so much more water to rapidly reach the rivers. Again, it was often said that navigation and drainage were to a certain extent opposed to each other, and it might be highly desirable to give greater facilities for the abandonment of navigation in cases where, owing to railways, the latter had become useless, or where it seriously interfered with drainage. He approved the proposition of appointing the Select Committee, but would strongly impress on his noble Friend the Lord President to have the Committee nominated without delay, in order that it might be able to report in time to have legislation for the prevention of floods before the close of the present Session if possible.

EARL FORTESCUE

joined in the request made by the noble Marquess that no time might be lost in nominating the Committee, in order that it might commence its labours as soon as possible.

Motion agreed to.

And, on April 23, the Lords following were named of the Committee:—

Ld. President. L. Munson.
D. Bedford. L. Vernon.
D. Northumberland. L. Stewart of Garlies.
M. Salisbury. L. Meldrum.
M. Ripon. L. Ker.
E. Sandwich. L. Penrhyn.
E. Cowper. L. Somerton.
E. Stanhope. L. Winmarleigh.