§ MR. DICKINSON (St. Pancras, N.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to an announcement that the central portion of Prince's Square, St. George's-in-the-East, is to be sold by auction for commercial purposes; whether he can take any action which will prevent this land from passing into the hands of private speculators before the local authorities shall have had an opportunity of purchasing it for or on behalf of the public; and whether, in view of the importance of preserving intact the squares and other similar air-spaces in London, he will consider the advisability of including in the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Bill provisions which will in future render illegal the erection of buildings upon land at present so used.
§ MR. JOHN BURNSI am aware of the proposed sale. The matter is not one with respect to which I am empowered to take any action of the kind suggested, but I am informed that it is improbable that the land will pass into the hands of private speculators, regard being had to the condition of the property market and the particular circumstances of the present case. I doubt whether a provision of the kind referred to in the last part of the Question could properly 1565 be included in the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Bill.