§ MR. BUTLERsaid, he begged to ask the right hon. Baronet the Chief Commissioner of Works whether it was intended to curtail the area of the Victoria Park by letting portions of the land for building purposes; and whether there was yet time 295 for the Government to withdraw from any treaty in which they might be engaged for the erection of houses in a locality where places of recreation needed to be increased rather than diminished?
§ SIR WILLIAM MOLESWORTHsaid, that when a park was constructed in the metropolis the strip of land that surrounded it became very valuable for building purposes, and, instead of allowing that increased value to be acquired by the owners of the adjoining property, the Government had generally, when a new park was formed, purchased more land than was required for the area of the proposed park. This course had been pursued in the case of the Regent's Park, Battersea Park, and Victoria Park. The Act 14 & 15 Vict. c. 46, defined the area of Victoria Park, and, consequently, the Government had no power to curtail the area of that park.