Clauses 20 (Saving for powers of district drainage boards); 21 (Provisions in cases where Central Board exceeds or fails to exercise powers); 22 (Cost of Act): 23 (Power of Central Board to make bylaws); 24 (Representations by county councils);25 (Powers of Central Board as to Bills in Parliament and Provisional Orders); 26 (Application of Arbitration Act, 1889); and 27 (Modification of certain provisions of the Land Drainage Act, 1861) ordered to stand part of the Bill.

HC Deb 02 May 1929 vol 227 cc1874-5

CLAUSE 28.—(Power to exclude certain areas from Doncaster district.)

Mr. PALING

I beg to move, in page 23, line 17, after the word "Minister," to insert the words: who before confirming shall take into consideration questions of health and general amenities of the area fairly attributive as resultant or prospectively resultant of good drainage of surrounding or adjacent lower lands consequent on the carrying out or prospective carrying out of any of the provisions of this Act. This Clause gives power to exclude certain areas from the Doncaster district. I think it is a rather dangerous power. There will be small districts in this new area which stand on rather higher land and there may be many applications on behalf of the owners of this higher land to be excluded from the operations of the Drainage Board. The Minister may, if he thinks fit, exclude them and we rather fancy that he will be inundated with applications from people who want to evade their responsibilites. We want to be sure that before any area is excluded that all the circumstances shall be taken into consideration. It does not necessarily mean that because a man is the owner of high land that he has no responsibilities. The water has to drain in to some one else's land lower down and it may be that this water will have to be pumped; including that water which has drained from this higher land. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will be able to accept the Amendment.

Mr. GUINNESS

It will clearly be the duty of the Minister of Agriculture to take into consideration all the general amenities of the district and the other matters mentioned by the hon. Member but to put this particular instruction in the Bill will really curtail rather than strengthen the responsibilities thrown on the Minister. In all these cases it is the duty of the Minister of Agriculture to take into account all the material considerations and I think it will be a great mistake to narrow the responsibilities and suggest that his work is finished when he had considered what is admittedly an important but limited consideration in regard to these applications.

Amendment negatived.

Question, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill," put, and agreed to.