§ Mr. WALTER ROCHI ask leave to introduce a Bill "to provide for the compulsory acquirement of the freehold of chapel sites in Wales."
The Bill is of a very simple character, and is not controversial in any shape or form. It applies only to a very small and 1638 insignificant portion of the British Empire, for it extends to no portion of it but Wales. The provisions of the Bill are very short and simple. Its purpose is to enable trustees, who hold places of worship under lease, to secure their compulsory enfranchisement, and so acquire the freehold of these premises. The premises are not to exceed two acres, and the leases under which they are held must be originally granted for life or lives, or for periods of not less than twenty-one years. The compulsory powers required are not of a drastic character. The trustees are simply given powers such as are given under private Bills, and the Lands Clauses Act and the Railway Clauses Consolidation Act. The sole difference under this Bill is that the arbitration proceedings are simplified. There will be only one arbitrator appointed by a Judge of the County Court, and in making the valuation for the purchase or acquirement of the freehold the value of the building will be excluded, and no allowance will be made for compulsory purchase. These are shortly the provisions of the Bill, and I hope they will be generally accepted. I should like to express the hope also that the Government may see their way, as we have little or no work to do to give some facilities for this Bill, so that one Act at all events relating only to Wales may be put upon the Statute Book as the result of four or five years of Liberal Government.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Walter Roch, Mr. Ellis Davies, Mr. Haydn Jones, and Sir Ivor Herbert. Presented accordingly, and read the first time. (To be read a second time upon Monday next.)