§ Sir PHILIP DAWSONI beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to enable highway authorities to permit the erection of petrol supply pumps on the edge of the roadway.The object of this Bill is to give local authorities the power to license the erection of petrol pumps at the side of the roadway. It provides that, where the highway authority is not the local authority, the consent of the local authority shall be required, and the rights of owners of the soil over which the roadway runs are not to be affected; and also that any such pumps erected at the side of the roadway shall comply with Regulations which may be issued by the Home Office as regards safety. At the present moment a large number of 2228 local authorities have sanctioned the erection of these pumps, some 2,000 in number, which, unless the powers sought for in this Bill are granted, are illegal. These are of great service to motor vehicles of all descriptions, both commercial and private. Those who have motored through crowded thoroughfares in some of our towns know that generally in the narrowest streets traffic is impeded by cars or lorries filling up from garages by means of petrol tins, and that this is not the most suitable or most efficient method of doing things. By means of a suitable petrol pump one gallon can be put into the tank of a car in under four seconds. Major Cooper-Key read a paper at the annual general meeting of the Incorporated Society of Inspectors of Weights and Measures in 1921. This is what he says:Many garages have no facilities for the fitting of petrol pumps and the only method available is by means of two-gallon cans which takes much longer and is by no means as safe.I would also call attention to a statement made by the National Protection Association of America after a very thorough investigation of the question last May when they reported:A fixed pump at the kerb is the safest and most efficient means of supply.At present water supply is available installed along the roadside to supply the requirements of steam lorries. Surely it is even more important that a supply of petrol should also be available. This Bill was objected to in 1923 because the Local Legislation Committee did not agree that local authorities should have the powers which many of them were seeking in Private Bills to grant licences to erect petrol pumps along to roadside. It is for this reason the Bill is now being brought forward to grant local authorities the powers they have so frequently asked for and leave is being sought to introduce it. Another objection made was the obstruction of the public highway. I suggest it is the Public Highway Authority which is really the authority that has the interest of the highways most at heart. Finally, in this connection, I should like to call attention to the remarks made by a Select Committee of the House of Lords in their Report on the Petroleum Bill, dated 12th July, 1923:Power should be given by a general Act enabling local authorities to license at their 2229 discretion roadside pumps of a typo approved by a central authority for supplying motor spirit to vehicles.Under these circumstances I ask leave to introduce this Bill.
§ Mr. MARCHI oppose the Motion. We hear quite enough lately of the slow-going traffic being a nuisance to motorists. We shall hear a lot more if we are going to have petrol pumps on the edge of the kerb for motorists to pull up and get filled up with spirit. They are not always contented with petrol spirit. Very often they want some other spirit, and that takes time to get, which all causes obstruction in the road. The object is as far as possible to relieve the congestion of roadways and also to give free access to vehicles of every kind. We are going to have this kind of thing put up alongside the kerb in the main road. If they were on the side roads they would probably be narrower still and more inconvenient to the other traffic. We are getting in most instances now facilities for motorists to draw inside various places and get their petrol in that way. There is a great venture being made in connection with that matter. It gives every facility for motorists to get inside, out of the way of ether traffic, and get their spirit, causing no inconvenience to other traffic. We heard
§ it asked by hon. Members a little while ago, when was the Minister of Transport going to take action to prevent horse-drawn vehicles being on the roads? If horse-drawn vehicles are not allowed to go along the road, are the roads always going to be reserved for motorists entirely? I know you would like it. Many of you people who have motors would like all the road to yourselves; I suggest that you all have tunnels to yourselves. That would be about the best thing that could happen, to get out of sight of everyone else bar yourselves. Apparently the idea is that those who have motor cars think they pay for all the upkeep of the roads and are entitled to all the road. No one is allowed to walk across in safety. Nothing else is allowed to be on the road in safety bar them. Therefore I think, even though they have that privilege of being on the road, we ought not to grant them another privilege by putting up petrol pumps alongside the kerb.
§
Question put,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to enable highway authorities to permit the erection of petrol supply pumps on the edge of the roadway.
§ The House divided; Ayes, 130; Noes, 154.
2231| Division No. 76.] | AYES. | [3.58 p.m. |
| Acland-Troyte, Lieut.-Colonel | Cunliffe, Joseph Herbert | Huntingfield, Lord |
| Alexander, E. E (Leyton) | Curzon, Captain Viscount | Hutchison, Sir Robert (Montrose) |
| Atkinson, C. | Davies, Sir Thomas (Cirencester) | Jackson, Sir H. (Wandsworth, Cen'l) |
| Balniel, Lord | Dixey, A. C. | Jacob, A. E. |
| Bellairs, Commander Carlyon W. | Eden, Captain Anthony | James, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. Cuthbert |
| Benn, Sir A. S. (Plymouth, Drake) | Erskine, James Malcolm Monteith | Kenyon, Barnet |
| Benn, Captain Wedgwood (Leith) | Evans, Captain A. (Cardiff, South) | Kindersley, Major Guy M. |
| Bennett, A. J | Evans, Capt. Ernest (Welsh Univer.) | Kinloch-Cooke, Sir Clement |
| Berry, Sir George | Fairfax, Captain J. G. | Knox, Sir Alfred |
| Bourne, Captain Robert Croft | Fermoy, Lord | Lansbury, George |
| Bowater, Sir T. Vansittart | Fisher, Rt. Hon. Herbert A. L. | Lougher, L. |
| Bowyer, Capt. G. E. W. | Fraser, Captain Ian | Luce, Maj.-Gen. Sir Richard Harman |
| Brittain, Sir Harry | Frece, Sir Walter de | MacAndrew, Charles Glen |
| Brocklebank, C. E. R. | Ganzoni, Sir John | McDonnell, Colonel Hon. Angus |
| Brown, Brig.-Gen. H. C. (Berks, Newb'y) | Goff, Sir Park | McLean, Major A. |
| Burgoyne, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Alan | Greene, W. P. Crawford | Macquisten, F. A. |
| Burton, Colonel H. W. | Hacking, Captain Douglas H. | Malone, Major P. B. |
| Chadwick, Sir Robert Burton | Hamilton, Sir R. (Orkney & Shetland) | Manningham-Buller, Sir Mervyn |
| Charteris, Brigadier-General J. | Hannon, Patrick Joseph Henry | Mitchell, Sir W. Lane (Streatham) |
| Clarry, Reginald George | Harris, Percy A. | Moore, Sir Newton J. |
| Clayton, G. C. | Harrison, G. J. C. | Morden, Colonel Walter Grant |
| Cochrane, Commander Hon. A. D. | Hartington, Marquess of | Morris, R. H. |
| Collins, Sir Godfrey (Greenock) | Harvey, Major S. E. (Devon, Totnes) | Newman, Sir R. H. S. D. L. (Exeter) |
| Connolly, M. | Haslam, Henry C. | Oakley, T. |
| Cooper, A. Duff | Hawke, John Anthony | Phillpson, Mabel |
| Cope, Major William | Henderson, Capt. R. R. (Oxf'd, Henley) | Pownall, Lieut.-Colonel Assheton |
| Couper, J. B. | Heneage, Lieut.-Colonel Arthur P. | Price, Major C. W. M. |
| Courthope, Lieut.-Col. George L. | Henn, Sir Sydney H. | Radford, E. A. |
| Cowan, Sir Wm. Henry (Islington, N.) | Holbrook, Sir Arthur Richard | Raine, W. |
| Crawfurd, H. E. | Homan, C. W. J. | Reid, Capt. A. S. C. (Warrington) |
| Croft, Brigadier-General Sir H. | Hopkins, J. W. W. | Rice, Sir Frederick |
| Crook, C. W. | Hore-Belisha, Leslie | Richardson, Sir P. W. (Sur'y, Ch'ts'y) |
| Crooke, J. Smedley (Deritend) | Hudson, Capt. A. U. M.(Hackney, N.) | Runclman, Rt. Hon. Walter |
| Crookshank, Cpt. H. (Lindsey, Gainsbro) | Hume, Sir G. H. | Russell, Alexander West (Tynemouth) |
| Sandeman, A. Stewart | Stanley, Hon. O. F. G. (Westm'eland) | Williams, Herbert G. (Reading) |
| Sanderson, Sir Frank | Steel, Major S. S. | Wise, Sir Fredric |
| Savery, S. S. | Stott, Lieut.-Colonel W. H. | Wood, B. C. (Somerset, Bridgwater) |
| Sinclair, Major Sir A. (Caithness) | Sugden, Sir Wilfrid | Wood, Sir S. Hill (High Peak) |
| Skelton, A. N. | Tasker, Major R. Inigo | Woodcock, Colonel H. C. |
| Slaney, Major P. Kenyon | Taylor, R. A. | Yerburgh, Major Robert D. T. |
| Smith, Ben (Bermondsey, Rotherhithe) | Warner, Brigadier-General W. W. | |
| Smith, R.W. (Aberd'n & Kinc'dine, C.) | Warrender, Sir Victor | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.— |
| Snell, Harry | Watts, Dr. T. | Sir Philip Dawson and Mr. Campbell. |
| Somerville, A. A. (Windsor) | Wells, S. R. | |
| Sprot, Sir Alexander | White, Lieut.-Colonel G. Dalrymple | |
| NOES. | ||
| Adamson, Rt. Hon. W. (Fife, West) | Hall, F. (York, W.R., Normanton) | Potts, John S. |
| Adamson, W. M. (Staff., Cannock) | Hammersley, S. S. | Rawlinson, Rt. Hon. John Fredk. Peel |
| Albery, Irving James | Hardie, George D. | Remnant, Sir James |
| Alexander. A. V. (Sheffield, Hillsbro') | Hartshorn, Rt. Hon. Vernon | Rhys, Hon. C. A. U. |
| Ammon, Charles George | Hayes, John Henry | Richardson, R. (Houghton-le-Spring) |
| Applin, Colonel R. V. K. | Henderson, T. (Glasgow) | Ritson, J. |
| Attlee, Clement Richard | Henniker-Hughan, Vice-Adm. Sir A. | Robinson, Sir T. (Lanes., Stretford) |
| Barclay-Harvey C. M. | Herbert, S. (York, N. R., Scar. & Wh'by) | Robinson, W. C. (Elland) |
| Barker, G. (Monmouth, Abertillery) | Hirst, G. H. | Rose, Frank H. |
| Barnston, Major Sir Harry | Hirst, W. (Bradford, South) | Saklatvala, Shapurji |
| Barr, J. | Hogg, Rt. Hon. Sir D.(St. Marylebone) | Salter, Dr. Alfred |
| Batey, Joseph | Holland, Sir Arthur | Sassoon, Sir Philip Albert Gustave D. |
| Betterton, Henry B. | Hopkinson, A. (Lancaster, Mossley) | Scrymgeour, E. |
| Bird, E. R. (Yorks, W. R., Skipton) | Howard, Capt. Hon. D. (Cumb., N.) | Shaw, Rt. Hon. Thomas (Preston) |
| Bowerman, Rt. Hon. Charles W. | Hudson, J. H. (Huddersfield) | Shiels, Dr. Drummond |
| Boyd-Carpenter, Major A. | Hurst, Gerald B. | Sitch, Charles H. |
| Briggs, J. Harold | Inskip, Sir Thomas Walker H. | Slesser, Sir Henry H. |
| Briscoe, Richard George | Jenkins, W. (Glamorgan, Neath) | Smith-Carington, Neville W. |
| Broad, F. A. | John, William (Rhondda, West) | Spender Clay, Colonel H. |
| Bromley, J. | Johnston, Thomas (Dundee) | Stamford, T. W. |
| Broun-Lindsay, Major H. | Jones, T. I. Mardy (Pontypridd) | Stanley, Lord (Fylde) |
| Buchanan, G. | Kelly, W. T. | Stephen, Campbell |
| Buxton, Rt. Hon. Noel | Kennedy, T. | Stewart, J. (St. Rollox) |
| Cautley, Sir Henry S. | King, Captain Henry Douglas | Stuart, Hon. J. (Moray and Nairn) |
| Charleton, H. C. | Kirkwood, D. | Sutton, J. E. |
| Christie, J. A. | Lamb, J. Q. | Thomson, Trevelyan (Middlesbro, W.) |
| Clowes, S. | Lawson, John James | Thurtle, E. |
| Clynes, Rt. Hon. John R. | Lee, F. | Tinker, John Joseph |
| Cove, W. G. | Looker, Herbert William | Trevelyan, Rt. Hon. C. P. |
| Cowan, D. M. (Scottish Universities) | Lowth, T. | Varley, Frank B. |
| Craig, Capt. Rt. Hon. C. C. (Antrim) | MacDonald, Rt. Hon. J. R. (Aberavon) | Viant, S. P. |
| Craik, Rt. Hon. Sir Henry | Macdonald, Capt. P. D. (I. of W.) | Walsh, Rt. Hon. Stephen |
| Dalkeith, Earl of | Macpherson, Rt. Hon. James I. | Warne, G. H. |
| Dalton, Hugh | Makins, Brigadier-General E. | Watson, Rt. Hon. W. (Carlisle) |
| Davies, A. V. (Lancaster, Royton) | Margesson, Capt. D. | Watts-Morgan, Lt.-Col. D. (Rhondda) |
| Davies, Maj. Geo. F. (Somerset, Yeovil) | Marriott, Sir J. A. R. | Wedgwood, Rt. Hon. Josiah |
| Davies, Rhys John (Westhoughton) | Milne, J. S. Wardlaw. | Welsh, J. C. |
| Dennison, R. | Monsell, Eyres, Com. Rt. Hon. B. M. | Wheler, Major Granville C. H. |
| Drewe, C. | Moore-Brabazon, Lieut.-Col. J. T. C. | Whiteley, W. |
| Dunnico, H. | Moreing, Captain A. H. | Wilkinson, Ellen C. |
| Edwards, C. (Monmouth, Bedwellty) | Morrison, H. (Wilts, Salisbury) | Williams, Com. C. (Devon, Torquay) |
| Erskine, Lord (Somerset, Weston-s.-M.) | Morrison, R. C. (Tottenham, N.) | Williams, T. (York, Don Valley) |
| Everard, W. Lindsay | Murnin, H. | Wilson, C. H. (Sheffield, Attercliffe) |
| Forrest, W. | Nall, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Joseph | Wilson, R. J. (Jarrow) |
| Gee, Captain R. | Naylor, T. E. | Windsor, Walter |
| Gibbins, Joseph | Nicholson, William G. (Petersfield) | Windsor-Clive, Lieut.-Colonel George |
| Gillett, George M. | Nuttall, Ellis | Womersley, W. J. |
| Gilmour, Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir John | Ormsby-Gore, Hon. William | Wood, Rt. Hon. E. (York, W.R., Ripon) |
| Glyn, Major R. G. C. | Parkinson, John Allen (Wigan) | Wood, E.(Chest'r, Stalyb'dge & Hyde) |
| Greenwood, A. (Nelson and Colne) | Pethick-Lawrence, F. W. | Wright, W. |
| Groves, T. | Peto, Basil E. (Devon, Barnstaple) | |
| Grundy, T. W. | Peto, G. (Somerset, Frome) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.— |
| Mr. March and Mr. Wignall. |
Main Question put, and agreed to.