§ MR. SLANEYsaid, he wished to ask the First Commissioner of Works, If permission will be given to open the Terrace at the back of Somerset House for respectable persons to walk there, at such hours and under such rules as shall be thought right, according to the recommendation of the Committee on Public Walks in 1833; and if there is any prospect of a Public Walk or open Ground being made in the south-east of London, near Bermondsey, or in Southwark, as suggested by that Committee?
MR. COWPER,in reply, said he was anxious that every public place in London which could afford a pleasant view, or promote or provide for the recreation of the public, should be turned to the best account. Doubtless the terrace in front of Somerset House would afford a pleasant lounge to a great number of persons if it were thrown open to the public; but there were certain objections made to that public use of it in consequence of the nature of the occupation of Somerset House. At the present moment, he had not satisfied his own mind that those objections could be altogether obviated. With regard to the proposal for another park, no doubt any one who saw the great delight that was caused by Battersea Park to thousands of the inhabitants of London would, like the hon. Gentleman, wish for another park at the south-east side of London. But he was unaware of any fund which could be appropriated for that purpose, and therefore, he could not hold out any distinct prospect of such an excellent arrangement being adopted.