§ (1) Where an order made by the Development Commissioners under Part I. or Part II. of this Act authorises the acquisition 2450 of any land forming part of any common, open space, or allotment, the order, so far as it relates to the acquisition of such land, shall be provisional only, and shall not have effect unless and until it is confirmed by Parliament, except where the order provides for giving in exchange for such land other land, not being less in area, certified by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to be equally advantageous to the persons, if any, entitled to commonable or other rights, and to the public:
§ Provided that—
- (a) This provision shall not apply to the-acquisition of any common land for the purpose of forestry if reasonable access to the land for air, exercise, or recreation is granted to the public and the land has not been dedicated to the public use and enjoyment and is not a metropolitan common within the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act, 1866, or is not a suburban common as defined by the Commons Act, 1876, or which is not subject to a scheme of regulation made in pursuance of the Metropolitan Commons Acts, 1866 to 1898, or the Inclosure Acts, 1845 to 1899, or of a private or local Act of Parliament; and
- (b) This provision shall not apply to the-acquisition of any common land for the purpose of the construction of a new road or the improvement of an existing road within a rural district; and
- (c) Nothing in this Act shall authorise the acquisition of land on either side of a new road to be constructed by the Road Board where the land forms part of a common, open space, or allotment.
§ (2) Before giving any such certificate of equality of exchange the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries shall give public notice of the proposed exchange, and shall afford opportunities to all persons interested to make representations and objections in relation thereto, and shall, if necessary, hold a local inquiry on the subject.
§ (3) Where any order of the Development Commissioners authorises such an exchange the order shall provide for vesting the land given in exchange in the persons in whom the common, open space, or allotment was vested, subject to the same rights, trusts, and incidents as attached to the common, open space, or allotment, and for discharging the part of the common, open space, or allotment 2451 acquired from all rights, trusts, and incidents to which it was previously subject.
§ (4) For the purposes of this Act the expression "common" shall include any land subject to be enclosed under the In-closure Acts, 1845 to 1882, and any town or village green; the expression "open space" means any land laid out as a public garden or used for the purposes of public recreation and any disused burial ground; and the expression "allotment" means any allotment set out as a fuel allotment or a field garden allotment under an Inclosure Act.
§ Mr. J. F. BRUNNER (for Mr. Cowan) moved, in paragraph (a), after the word "if" ["forestry if reasonable"], to insert the words "the order provides for the granting to the public of."
§ I beg to thank the Government for the way they have met the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society with regard to their requirements. All these Amendments have been accepted.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendments made: In paragraph (a), to leave out the words "is granted to the public."
§ In paragraph (a), to leave out the word "and" ["and the land"], and to insert instead thereof the word "unless."
§ To leave out the word "not" ["has not been dedicated"].
§ To leave out the words "and is not" ["and is not a metropolitan common"], and to insert instead thereof the words "or is."
§ To leave out the word "not" ["and is not a suburban common"].
§ To leave out the word "which" ["which is not subject"].
§ To leave out the word "not" ["which is not subject"].
§ To leave out the word "of" ["or of a private or local Act"], and to insert instead thereof the word "to."—[Mr. J. F. L. Brunner.]