HC Deb 30 May 1867 vol 187 cc1293-4
VISCOUNT ENFIELD

said, 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 MANNERS

said, 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, 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.