§ MR. FAWCETTasked the honourable and gallant Member for Truro, Whether he will explain to the House the circumstances which led to the abandonment by the Board of the scheme for the construction of a new street from Charing Cross to Tottenham Court Road, which was approved by this House?
§ SIR JAMES M'GAREL-HOGGSir, in reply to the Question of the hon. Member, I beg to inform him that the freeholder (the Marquess of Salisbury) 164 of considerable property in the line of the street indicated petitioned against the Bill, and in effect sought to limit the powers of the Board, as regards his own interests, to the acquisition of the property actually required for the public way of the new street, whereas the Board, in accordance with the ordinary practice, desired to take sufficient property to give frontages to the street when formed. The Select Committee of this House declined to accede to the prayer of the Petition, but a Committee of the House of Lords inserted the clauses asked for. Having regard to the inconvenience of the precedent, and to the heavy loss which the ratepayers would sustain by the diminution of the recoupments, the Board came to the unanimous conclusion that it could not carry out the improvement upon the prescribed conditions, and therefore, upon the third reading, asked that the Bill might be amended by striking out this improvement.
§ MR. FAWCETTSir, as the circumstances connected with the presentation of this Petition by the owner of considerable property, who is notoriously a Member of the House of Lords, require some further elucidation, I beg to give Notice that to-morrow, at the time of Private Business, when this House is asked to consider the Lords' Amendments to the Metropolitan Street Improvements Bill, I shall call further attention to the subject.