§ MR. BRYCEasked the honourable Member for the Isle of Wight, Whether, as one of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England and Wales, he can state what is the present position of the negotiations between the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the other owners of the Paddington Estate on the one hand, and those who have interested themselves in the creation of a public park for Paddington on the other hand; and, whether he can give any assurance that, during the pendency of those negotiations, the area of the ground now open will not be encroached upon or diminished by building operations?
§ MR. EVELYN ASHLEYSir, last year the Ecclesiastical Commissioners offered to sell their interest in the land—which they estimate to represent nearly one-half—for £1,500 an acre. This offer the Park Committee have neither accepted nor declined. Last March the Commissioners authorized their surveyors to join in any conference which might be held between the promoters of the proposed park and the trustees of the Paddington Estate with a view to arrange the price which should be paid for the joint interest of the Commissioners and trustees, without reference to any ques- 1149 tion as to the apportionment of the money. The only answer I can give to the second part of the Question is the same as that given to a deputation last year—namely, that, while the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are anxious to afford every facility in their power for the acquisition of the land for a public park, they cannot, consistently with the proper execution of the trusts imposed upon them by statute, give a pledge to withhold their sanction to the letting of any further portion of the estate for building. I may add that there is another suitable tract of land which as sole owners they have offered to sell for £1,250 an acre, or less than half the total sum required for the other. It comprises about 94 acres, and lies at Kilburn, forming the site of the Royal Agricultural Show in 1879.