§ 3.54 p.m.
§ Sir CHRISTOPHER CLAYTONI beg to move, in page 3, line 33, after "commencement," to insert :
and that having regard to all relevant matters (including the interests of persons who may sustain damage by reason of the taking of water under the authority of the Order) the powers to be conferred on the undertakers under this Section are such as might properly have been conferred on them, if apart from any exceptional shortage of rain the taking of water from a new source had become necessary for the purposes of the undertaking.This Clause deals with the granting of Orders of a permanent nature, and it is necessary that where an Order has been made under it no hardship should be imposed upon industrial firms which require water as a necessity. We have to bear in mind that in choosing a site for a new works a firm has to take into consideration the supply of an adequate quantity of water. They may put down a well to supply the amount of water required for the factory as it stands; later, the firm may want to expand the factory and to require more water. They may have ample water from their well, and I want to make certain that that should not be interfered with by the operation of this Emergency Bill. I think the words in the Amendment meet that case, and I hope the Minister will be able to accept it.
§ Sir FRANK SANDERSONI beg to second the Amendment.
§ 3.56 p.m.
Sir H. YOUNGThis Amendment is similar in its character, though not in its content, to the last Amendment. It arises as the result of a discussion in Committee, and there is no difference of opinion with regard to it. The purpose of Clause 3, as I pointed out then, was that there should be action of a permanent character only when such action was justified by the general demand of the locality to which it applied. I have given careful consideration to the wording of this Amendment, and I find it accurately expresses the results of our discussion in Committee.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ 3.57 p.m.
Sir H. YOUNGI beg to move, in page 4, line 4, to leave out from the beginning to "incorporate" in line 12.
§
This Amendment is of a technical character and is to be read in conjunction with a subsequent Amendment in my name—in page 4, line 17, at the end, to insert :
For the purposes of an order under this section the word" stream "in the Waterworks Clauses Acts, 1847 and 1863, shall be deemed to include canals, reservoirs, lakes, and ponds.
§ The two Amendments together are for the purpose of removing difficulties of a technically legal nature which were raised in Committee as to compensation which could be claimed by a navigation authority under the Bill. There were some doubts as regards the Waterworks Clauses Act, which does not provide for the case where water is taken from a canal or reservoir which feeds a canal. It is made clear in the Amendment that compensation can be claimed in such cases in accordance with the general intention of the Bill by providing that the word "stream" in the Waterworks Clauses Act is taken to include canals, reservoirs, lakes and ponds. Owing to the ingenuity of the draftsmen, it is possible to simplify the Measure by this definition.
§ 3.59 p.m.
§ Mr. CAPORNWould not the Minister achieve his purpose better by providing that simple English words like "stream" should not cover what it does not ordinarily include? It is this sort of legislation which gives rise to such a lot of 46 complicated cases in the Law Courts, and I venture to hope that the draftsmen will get away from this kind of draftsmanship and put into Acts of Parliament what they are intended to do.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Further Amendment made : In page 4, line 17, at the end, insert :
For the purposes of an order under this section the word" stream "in the Waterworks Clauses Acts, 1847 and 1863, shall be deemed to include canals, reservoirs, lakes, and ponds."—[Sir H. Young.]