- "(1.) Whenever any structure or any part thereof, or anything thereon or attached thereto or projecting therefrom is deemed by the surveyor to be in a state or position whereby public danger is, or may be, occasioned, the surveyor shall give notice under his hand to the owner or occupier of such structure, or to both of them, requiring such owner or occupier forthwith to take down, remove, repair, or secure the same to the satisfaction of the surveyor.
- (2.) In case the work required by the notice is not begun within forty-eight hours after the service thereof, or is not completed to the satisfaction of the surveyor, as soon as the case admits the surveyor may give information thereof to any justice, who may thereupon issue his summons requiring such owner or occupier, or both of them, to appear before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
- (3.) In case it appears to the Court that immediate danger from such structure or part thereof or thing thereon or attached thereto or projecting therefrom, as aforesaid, is to be apprehended the Court may make an order authorising such surveyor to cause such structure or part thereof or thing thereon, or attached thereto or projecting therefrom, as aforesaid, to be forthwith taken down, removed, repaired or secured.
- (4.) In case it appears to the Court that public danger is to be apprehended, but that such danger is not immediate, the Court may make an order on such owner or occupier, or both of them, requiring him or them to cause such structure or part thereof or thing thereon or attached thereto or projecting therefrom, as aforesaid, to be taken down, removed, repaired, or secured to the satisfaction of the surveyor within a period to be prescribed in such order.
214 In case such order is not obeyed within the period prescribed therein, any person on whom such order has been made shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and to a daily penalty not exceeding twenty shillings. - (5.) The Court may, at any time after the end of the period prescribed in such order, make an order authorisiug the surveyor to cause such structure or part thereof or thing thereon or attached thereto or projecting therefrom, as aforesaid, to be taken down, removed, repaired, or secured as required by such order, and the person or persons on whom such order has been made shall, in addition to such penalty, pay all the costs, charges, and expenses of, and incidental to, the execution of the order.
- (6.) If the owner or occupier of any structure which the surveyor has deemed to be dangerous to the public cannot be found, or does not appear after service of notice and summons as hereinbefore provided, the Court having cognizance of the matter may make an order authorising the surveyor to cause such structure or part thereof or thing thereon or attached thereto or projecting therefrom, as aforesaid, to be forthwith taken down, removed, repaired or secured, and the costs, charges, and expenses thereof shall be paid by such owner or occupier as aforesaid.
§ The Amendment proposed to omit the proviso.
§ The noble Earl said, that if telephone companies used dangerous structures, he did not see why they should be exempted from the operation of clauses of this kind. The clause, it should be observed, only enabled a surveyor to call attention, in the first instance, to any structure which he might consider to be dangerous. Then, if the notice given on the subject was not complied with, the surveyor could apply to a Court of summary jurisdiction to make an order to have the nuisance complained of abated. The owners of telephone or telegraph wires had nothing to fear from this clause, for anything like arbitrary interference was not possible under it. But it would not be right to exempt them from provisions respecting dangerous structures, to which everyone else would be subject. He moved this Amendment with the concurrence of the Chairman of the Committee to which this Bill was referred.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Bill read 3a