§ MR. GOLDNEYsaid, he would beg to ask the hon. Member for Bath, Whether the Metropolitan Board of Works is aware that Iron Gates are still continued at the end of Devonshire Place and Wimpole Street, being one of the principal thoroughfares between Oxford Street and the New Road, and that such Gates are refused to be opened to the public unless a gratuity is given to the Gatekeeper; and, if the Board are aware of it, whether they propose to take any steps with reference thereto; and, further, whether the road is repaired at the public expense or by any private individual?
§ MR. TITEsaid, this matter is but a portion of a large question which has been under the consideration of the Metropolitan Board since January last year. There are between 200 and 300 gates of a similar character in the metropolis, and thirty in the parish of St. Pancras alone. The Board first memorialized the House of Lords to refer the matter to the Committee inquiring into Municipal Regulations, but that was not attended to. They then applied to the Home Secretary, who, after considering the subject very carefully, replied that the case was surrounded with so many difficulties that he was unable to bring in a Bill on the subject. The particular cases referred to by the hon. Member for Chippenham are not peculiar. The Board know of no justification for charging anything in the shape of a toll, which would be illegal; but the gates bolong in many cases to the owners of the property on which the streets are built, and the Board have no power to interfere. They hope, however, to be able to bring in a Bill next Session. The expense of repairing the roads where such gates exist is, in many cases, borne by the parishes.