§ Page 29, leave out Clause 41:
§ The Commons disagree to this Amendment, but propose to insert the following new clause in lieu of Clause 41:
§ "Preparation of town-planning schemes.
§ .—(1) The council of every borough or other urban district containing on the first day of January nineteen hundred and twenty-three a population according to the last census for the time being of more than, twenty thousand shall, within three years after that date, prepare and submit to the Local Government Board a town-planning scheme in respect of all land within, the borough or urban district in respect of which a town-planning scheme may be mode under the Act of 1909.
§ "(2) Without prejudice to the powers of the council under the et of 1909, every scheme to which this section applies shall deal with such matters as may be determined by regulations to be made by the Loral Government Board.
§ "(3) Every regulation so made shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as may be after it is made, and if an address is presented by either House within twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after any such regulation, is laid before it, praying that the regulation may be annulled, His Majesty in Council may annul the regulation, but without prejudice to the validity of anything preciously done thereunder."
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOROn this Amendment I think your Lordships will be able to reach a harmonious conclusion with the Commons. They attach very great importance to the provisions of this clause, and I think that very general disappointment was felt by all parties at its deletion by your Lordships. The new clause which the Commons propose is an improvement on the original, and I hope it will go some way to disarm opposition. The clause in its new form makes it clear that the intention is that the new code shall be determined by means of regulations to be made by the Local Government Board. Both Houses will have ample opportunity of criticising the conclusions, if they desire to do so. I hope that your Lordships will agree to the Motion which I make.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree wit h the Commons in the said Amendment. (The Lord Chancellor.)
§ LORD ISLINGTONI think that the decision of your Lordships to omit this clause in its original form has enabled the House of Commons to improve it very considerably. It certainly now, as drafted in its amended form, substantially removes 1070 the extremely arbitrary nature of the power that was entrusted to the central authority over the local authority, and all the provisions by which regulations are to be drafted by the central authority are to be submitted and for a period of time to be laid upon the Table of both Houses of Parliament, thus giving an opportunity to those interested in the locality concerned to raise any objections that they may have to the regulations in so far as they may contravene local interests or present impracticable features in regard to local conditions. I think eat the clause as it now stands, and taken in conjunction with the Amendment that your Lordships inserted into the following clause, remove the main difficulties and the main objections that were in their original form. Speaking for myself, as one who opposed these clauses in their original form, I feel quite satisfied now that due and proper safeguards have been inserted to protect localities against any undue encroachment.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYI am glad that the noble Lord has taken that view of this clause. There is no matter which is felt more strongly in the country, amongst those who are likely to feel the effects of legislation, than the desire to have an increased amount of town planning. And when you think that this town planning may deal with such subjects as the number of houses to be built to the acre, and whether there are to be open spaces or not, one cannot be surprised that the working classes feel very strongly that they ought to be protected from the mean streets without open spaces which have defaced our towns for so many years. I am glad that the Commons have added the later part of the clause, because, as the noble Lord has very properly said, we have an improved protection in control in case anything unreasonable is proposed. I am quite satisfied that the intention of the authorities is not to make unreasonable proposals, but to have reasonable ones, and no burden will be imposed greater than the necessities of the case really demand.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.