§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)asked the First Commissioner of Works, What was the amount paid by the Treasury for the purchase and laying out of 1391 Kennington Park; of Victoria Park; of Bethnal Green Gardens; of Battersea Park, and of the Battersea Estate; of the Westminster Bridge Estate, and of the erection of the Bridge; what was the amount paid by the Treasury for the purchase of Brompton Cemetery, and from what the annual income of £5,500 is derived; what was the cost to the Treasury of the Orange Street Waterworks, and what is the annual cost to the Treasury of their maintenance; and, why Trafalgar Square is not included in the Schedule of the Public Parks and Works (Metropolis) Bill?
§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER (Mr. PLUNKET) (Dublin University)I am informed that the site of Kennington Park was transferred by the Duchy of Cornwall to the Commissioners of Works without payment. The cost to the Treasury of laying it out was about £5,000. The cost of the purchase and laying out of Victoria Park (about £133,000) was met out of funds provided from the land revenue of the Crown. The site of Bethnal Green Gardens was presented by the inhabitants; the cost of laying-out (about £1,500) was borne by the Treasury. The total cost of Battersea Park and Estate has amounted to £350,000, of which about £105,000 was voted by Parliament, £200,000 was borrowed, and £45,000 was applied from proceeds of sales and rents. Of the amount borrowed, £100,000 has been repaid from the last-mentioned source. The Westminster Bridge Estate was not purchased, but was transferred to the Commissioners of Works to meet the cost of erecting a new bridge. That work involved a total outlay of £552,000—including the expenditure on approaches, £133,000. Of the £552,000, £407,000 was provided from Votes of Parliament, and the remainder from the proceeds of sales of part of the estate. The Brompton Cemetery cost the Treasury £77,000; the annual income is derived from the sale of grants of rights of interment, and from fees on interments. The capital expenditure from Votes of Parliament on Orange Street Waterworks has amounted to nearly £36,000. The net annual cost of maintenance has amounted, on the average of the last three years, to nearly £1,800. As to Trafalgar Square, I am not aware that it has ever been proposed to transfer it, and should like to consider the subject fur- 1392 ther. The charge for its maintenance is not large—about £250 a-year—besides the cost of providing water for the fountains.