§ Lords Amendment: In page 29, line 17, at the end, insert:
"or had before that date devolved upon some person desirous of winning them."
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."—[Sir H. Young.]
§ Sir S. CRIPPSCould the Government, tell us why these words have been inserted; and also what is the purpose of the next Amendment—In page 29, line 33, leave out from the second word "that" to the end of line 38, and insert instead thereof the words:
that the area of the land of the owner fronting the street or proposed street will not be diminished to such an extent by the fixing of the building line as to render it less suitable for the erection of buildings in conformity with the provisions of the scheme.
Sir H. YOUNGAs regards the first Amendment, as the Bill left this House it provided that compensation might be excluded in appropriate cases in respect of a provision prohibiting or restricting the winning of minerals by surface working in an area which had been reserved and substantially developed for residential purposes; but it provided that compensation should not be excluded where the land had been acquired for the purpose of winning minerals by surface working before the material date, so as not 1059 to disappoint a legitimate expectation. The Amendment provides, in addition, that compensation shall not be excluded where before the material date land had devolved upon some person desirous of winning minerals by surface working. It was thought to be unfair that, if there was the intention to work minerals, anyone who had the intention should be excluded from this right, even although they had not acquired the land for that intention, but had come into possession of the land in the ordinary course of descent or in some other way. It was thought that the intention should be regarded rather than the method of acquiring land, and it was represented that the provision as it stood in the Bill was unfair, since, while the right of a person who had acquired land was secured, the right of a person who had inherited land was not secured. That is the whole point of the Amendment.
The other Amendment is really no more than a drafting Amendment. It has an important bearing on the safeguards included in the original Act to ensure the inclusion of compensation when the building line is fixed—to ensure that that shall not operate unfairly to the owner. It is to make the original intention more precise.
§ Subsequent Lords Amendments to page 32, line 37, agreed to.