§ VISCOUNT ENFIELDsaid, he wished to ask the First Commissioner of Works, Whether he is aware that a portion of the 290 acres, which form the area of Victoria Park, has been devoted to building purposes; whether the Board of Works have power to grant or refuse permission for such objects; and, if so, whether the buildings in question are being constructed with the knowledge and consent of the said Board of Works?
§ LORD JOHN MANNERSsaid, in reply, that the area of the Park was not 290 acres, but 265 acres. Of that, by the Act of the 4 & 5 Vict., which created the Park, 1294 one-fourth, or sixty-six acres, was set apart for building purposes, in order that the country might to a certain extent be recouped the expense incurred in the formation of the Park. By the Act of 1851 the portion devoted to building purposes was reduced to one-sixth, or forty-five acres; and upon this forty-five acres he understood that from time to time suitable buildings were being erected. These forty-five acres were vested in the Office of Woods, and he had no control over nor official knowledge of them; but the system adopted in respect to this Park had been adopted in the case of other Parks laid out by the Government and by the Metropolitan Board of Works.