ROADS IMPROVEMENT BILL. (Hansard, 31 July 1925)

HL Deb 31 July 1925 vol 62 cc635-50 635

§ Amendments reported (according to Order).

§ Clause 1:

§ Planting of trees and laying out of grass margins in highways.

§ 1.—(1) The Minister of Transport (hereinafter referred to as the Minister) and any county council or other highway authority shall have power to cause trees or shrubs to be planted and grass margins to be laid out in any highway maintainable by him or them respectively; and to erect and maintain guards or fences and otherwise to do anything expedient for the maintenance or protection of such trees, shrubs and grass margins.

§ (3) The powers conferred by this section hall not be exercised by the Minister, or any county council or other highway authority except in a highway vested in him or them respectively, or upon land so vested which forma part of a highway.

§ (6) Section seven of the Telegraph Act, 1978, shall apply to any work done in exercise of the powers conferred by this section as if the work were done in the execution of an undertaking authorised by a special Act of Parliament, and as if any county council or highway authority carrying out the work were the undertakers.

§ Loan BANBURY or SOUTHAM moved, in subsection (1), to leave out "maintainable by him or them respectively," and to insert "vested in him or them respectively or upon land so vested which forms part of a highway." The noble Lord said: My Lords, I have a consequential Amendment to leave out subsection (3). This is really only a drafting Amendment designed to make the Bill intelligible to the ordinary observer. As the Bill stands, subsection (1) of Clause 1 empowers the Minister of Transport and any county council or other highway authority to cause trees or shrubs to be planted, and grass margins to be laid out in any highway maintainable by him or them respectively, and to erect and maintain guards or fences. That right as it stands would permit the Transport Minister and the county council or other highway authority to plant trees and do various things on land which does not belong to them. That question was raised in Committee and the noble Earl, Lord Russell, pointed out that subsection (3) cancelled that and limited the powers of the Ministry of Transport and the county council to land which was 636 vested in them; that is to say, to these new roads which have been made during the last few years. It is rather absurd to grant certain powers in one subsection, powers which cannot be exercised or which probably could not be exercised, and take away those powers in another subsection. It would be much simpler if the clause was amended as I suggest. It does not alter the meaning in any way, but it puts it in a more intelligible form and in such a way that any one who reads it can understand what is meant.

§ Amendment moved— Page 1, lines 10 and 11, leave out ("maintainable by him or them respectively") and insert ("vested in him or them respectively or upon land so vested which forms part of a highway").—(Lord Banbury of Southam.)

§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (VISCOUNT PEEL)
My Lords, this Amendment has been moved by the noble Lord with the laudable desire of making the Bill simpler and more intelligible and we shall all agree that his object is most admirable. I should like to point out to him that the Bill, as drafted, proceeds upon a simple principle, and that is to lay down in subsection (1) what are the powers and then to state the limitations on those powers in subsection (3). It is not quite accurate to say that subsection (3) takes away the powers given in subsection (1).

§ LORD BANBURY OF SOUTHAM
I should have said some of them.

§ VISCOUNT PEEL
I think that would be more accurate. The noble Lord, however, knows that there are a good many wiles and stratagems in the way of the draftsmen and he has told us that the change he proposes to make does not alter the effect of the Bill. I am afraid he has not reckoned with the complexity of the law in this country with regard to highways and he has forgotten Scotland altogether. What I understand would happen is this. As regards this country there are cases where the roads are vested in one authority and maintainable by another. Under his proposal the authority that had to maintain the roads would not be able to plant trees, but authority which would he able to plant the trees is the one which is not responsible for the maintenance of the roads.
637 That would produce rather an undesirable complexity in the maintenance of these roads.
The second point is that the law in Scotland, as so very often happens, is not the same as the law in England—in fact, it is quite different as regards highways—and it would be very difficult, unless the Bill is left as it is drafted, to apply these particular changes to the peculiar case of Scotland. It would introduce very great complexity. It would not only be necessary to alter the definition clause, but I also understand that if the clause is drafted as suggested it would be very difficult to make its application to Scotland otherwise than very confusing and rather unintelligible. I hope the noble Lord does not lay so much stress on the Amendment as to press it further and I trust that the view he takes of the intelligence of the magistrates, that they only read one section and not another, is not entirely accurate.

§ LORD BANBURY OF SOUTHAM
My Lords, I confess that I am not conversant with the law in Scotland. It is a curious law, and it is always cropping up at inopportune times to show that it is different to the law of England. My idea was not merely to consult the convenience of magistrates, but to let the ordinary person who wants to know what is going to be clone see it at a glance and without finding it necessary to have recourse to anyone learned in the law, which he would have to do if the clause remains as it is. But after the statement of the noble Viscount I will not press the Amendment.

§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

§ VISCOUNT PEEL moved to leave out subsection (6) and insert (6) For the purposes of section seven of the Telegraph Act, 1878, any work done in exercise of the powers conferred by this section shall be deemed to be work done in the execution of an undertaking authorised by an Act of Parliament, and any county council or highway authority carrying out the work shall be deemed to be the undertakers.

§ The noble Viscount said: This is purely a drafting Amendment in order to secure the Postmaster-General

638

§ Amendment moved— Page 2, line 20, leave out subsection (6) and insert the said new subsection.—(Viscount Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 2:

§ Amendment of s. 8 of 9 Edw. 7. c 47.

§ 2. For the purposes of Part ll, of the Development and Road improvement Funds Act, 1900, the expression "improvement of roads" shall, in addition to the matters specified in subsection (5) of section eight of that Act, include the planting, laying out, maintenance and protection of trees, shrubs and grass margins in and beside roads, the placing on or near roads of notices, milestones and sign posts, and the freeing of roads from tolls, and the prescription of building lines along roads in anticipation of the widening thereof.

§ VISCOUNT PEEL
The first Amendment in my name is purely drafting.

§ Amendment moved— Page 2, line leave out the second ("and").—(Viscount of Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.

§ VISCOUNT PEEL moved to leave out the last six words of the clause: "in anticipation of the widening thereof". The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this is not quite a drafting Amendment. It leaves out the words which restrict the prescription of building lines to cases where road widening is definitely anticipated. There is no provision confining the prescription of building lines in the governing clause and this really only brings this clause into conformity with Clause 5.

§ Amendment moved— Page 2, line 35, leave out from ("roads") to end of the clause.—(Viscount Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 4 [Restrictions as to fences at dangerous corners]:

§ VISCOUNT PEEL
My Lords, all the Amendments in my name to this clause are of a drafting nature. They only secure uniformity of language between this clause and Clause 5 or leave out certain provisions in regard to service of notice and definition of terms in order that they may be inserted later in the Bill.

639

§ Amendments moved—

§ Page 3, line 14, leave out from (''serve") to ("to") in line 16 and insert ("a notice— (a) upon the owner or occupier of the land directing him")

§ Page 3, line 21, leave out ("restraining the owner and occupier of the land") and insert ("upon every owner, occupier and lessee of the land restraining them")

§ Page 4, lines 1 to 4, leave out paragraph (iv)

§ Page 4, line 42, leave out ("under this Act")

§ Page 5, lines 4 and 5, leave out ("against this Act")

§ Page 5, line 15, leave out from ("that") to ("imposed") in line 17, and insert ("his property is injuriously affected by restrictions")

§ Page 5, line 22, leave out from the second ("a") to ("required") in line 24, and insert ("county council or other highway authority in exercise of their powers under this section shall, whether or not land is")

§ Page 5, line 30 to page 6, line 18, leave out subsections (9), (10) and (11).—(Viscount Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.

§ Clause 5:

§ Power to prescribe building line.

§ 5.—(1) A county council or other highway authority (hereinafter in this section referred to, where the context so admits, as "the authority") may by order prescribe, in respect of any road (being a public highway) which is for the time being maintainable by them, a building line along each or either side of the whole or any part of such road, and, subject to the provisions of paragraph (a) of subsection (10) of this section, it shall not thenceforth be lawful, without the written consent of the authority (which consent, if given, may be subject to such conditions as the authority shall think fit), to erect, or permit to be erected, any structure whatsoever in front of such building line, or to alter, or permit to be altered, any structure existing at the date of the order in such manner that any part thereof projects in front of such building line, or to make, or permit to be made, any permanent excavation in front of such building line:

§ Provided that the consent of the Minister shall be obtained before any such building line is prescribed as aforesaid in respect of any road, or part thereof, for the time being classified by the Minister for the purpose of advances from the Road Fund.

§ (2) One month at least before the date of the order the authority shall—

(a) cause to be prepared, signed by their surveyor, and deposited with their clerk, a plan of the proposed building line, which shall be open at all reasonable times to the inspection of the public without change:
(b) give notice in writing of the deposit of the said plan to every owner or lessee interested whose name and address they can ascertain; and
(c) give public notice by advertisement. in two newspapers circulating in the district in which the road affected is situate, that the said plan has been so deposited.

§ (3) Within one month after the date of the order the authority shall—

(a) cause to be prepared, signed by their surveyor and deposited with their clerk, a plan of the said building line, which shall be open at all reasonable times for the inspection of the public without charge; and
(b) give notice in writing to every owner or lessee interested whose name and address they can ascertain that a building line has been so prescribed and a plan thereof so deposited.

§ (4) If the road in respect of which a building line is proposed to be prescribed in accordance with the provisions of this section, is either a main road maintained and repaired pursuant to subsection (2) of section eleven of the Local Government Act, 1888, or a road, other than a main road, classified by the Minister as aforesaid. the authority shall, before prescribing a building line as aforesaid, send a notification of their proposals to the council of the county in which the road is situate, who shall submit their observations thereon, if any, to the authority within three months from the date of such notification, and the authority shall consider such observations, if any, before making any order under this section.

§ (5) If the road in respect of which a building line is proposed to be prescribed in accordance with the provisions of this section is a main road maintained and repaired by a county council, the authority shall, before prescribing a building line as aforesaid, send a notification of their proposals to the local authority of the district in which such mad is situate, who shall submit their observations thereon, if any, to the authority within one month from the date of such notification, and the authority shall consider such observations, if any, before making any order under this section.

§ (6) The authority may, subject to the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection (10) of this section, at any time after the date of the order and on giving three months' notice in writing to the owner or lessee of any structure which, or any part of which, was in front of the said building line at the date of the order, require that such structure shall be demolished or set back or altered in such manner that no part thereof shall project in front of the said building line.

§ (7) Any person upon whom a notice is served under subsection (3) of this section who proves that the value of his interest in any land has been reduced by the prescription of a building line, and any person upon whom a notice is served under subsection (6) of this section who proves that he has sustained loss 641 or damage by the demolition, setting back or alteration of any structure, shall be entitled to recover from the authority compensation for such reduction in value or for such demolition, setting back or alteration, as the case may be, and the amount of such compensation shall, in default of agreement, be determined by arbitration under the provisions of the Arbitration Act, 1889:

§ Provided that—

(i) in estimating the amount of such compensation, there shall be taken into account as a set off the benefits accruing by reason of any road widening or improvement made or about to be made by the authority to the person to whom such compensation is payable;
(ii) no compensation whatsoever shall be payable in respect of any structure the erection or alteration of which in advance of the proposed building line was first commenced after the service of the notice specified in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section; and
(iii) no compensation whatsoever shall be payable to any person in respect of a reduction in the value of his interest in any land as aforesaid, except in pursuance of a claim made to the authority within six months after the date of the order.

§ (8) Where by any scheme confirmed under the Town Planning Acts, 1909 to 1923, any building line it prescribed by the local authority making such scheme and such building line is nearer to the centre line of the road than a building line prescribed in accordance with the provisions of this section, the local authority shall pay to the authority (if not the local authority) such proportion of any compensation paid by the authority under subsection (7) of this section as may be agreed upon between the authority and the local authority or, in default of agreement, as shall be determined by arbitration under the Arbitration Act, 1889.

§ (9) Copies of arty plan prepared, signed and deposited in accordance with the provisions of subsection (3) of this section shall, when certified by the clerk of the authority to be true, be received in all courts of justice and elsewhere as primâ facie evidence of the contents of such plan so far as it relates to a building line prescribed in accordance with this section, and a copy (certified as aforesaid) of so much of ally such plan as relates to the district of any local authority shall, on the application of that local authority or of the council of the county in which the road affected is situate, as the case may be, be delivered to such local authority or county council, and copies of or extracts from such plan shall also be delivered to the owner, lessee or occupier of any property in the district applying for the same, on payment of a reasonable fee to be determined by the authority, and all fees so received shall be 642 carried to the credit of the fund out of which the highway expenditure of the authority is payable.

§ (10) Nothing in this section shall be deemed—

(a) to prevent the erection in front of a building line prescribed in accordance with this section of any boundary wall or fence or the alteration of any existing boundary wall or fence; or
(b) to require the demolition, setting back, or alteration of any boundary wall or fence existing in front of such building line at the date of the order.

§ (11) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any building (not being a dwelling-house) or lands belonging to a railway company and held by them for the purposes of any railway authorised by Act of Parliament or by an order having the force of an Act or belonging to the owners, trustees or conservators acting under powers conferred upon them by Parliament of any canal, inland navigation, dock or harbour, and held by them for the purposes of the canal, inland navigation, dock or harbour.

§ (12) Every notice for the purpose of this section may be served either by delivering it or leaving it at the usual or last known place of abode of the person on whom it is to be served, or by sending it by post as a registered letter addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode, or by delivering it to some person on the premises, or, if there is no person on the premises, by affixing it on some conspicuous part of the premises, and any such notice or document may be addressed by the description of the "owner" or the "occupier" of the premises (naming them) without further name or description.

§ (13) Any person offending against any of the provisions of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, and a further penalty not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the offence continues.

§ (14) Nothing in this section shall derogate from the powers of the London County Council under the London Building Acts, 1894 to 1923, and in the administrative county of London the London County Council shall be the authority for the purposes of this section.

§ VISCOUNT PEEL moved to leave out Clause 5, and insert the following new clause:—

§ Power to prescribe building lines.

§ 5.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section a county council or other highway authority may by resolution prescribe in relation to either side of any part of a highway maintainable by them a frontage line for building (in this section referred to as "a building line"):

643

§ Provided that—

(a) the Minister may by order direct that a building line shall not be prescribed under this section in relation to any class of road classified by him under subsection (2) of section seventeen of the Ministry of Transport Act, 1919, until notification of the building line proposed has been sent to him and his observations with respect thereto have been considered; and
(b) before a building line is prescribed under this section—
1. (i) affecting any main road maintainable by an urban authority by virtue of the provisions of subsection (2) of section eleven of the Local Government Act, 1885, notification of the building line proposed to be prescribed shall be sent to the council of any county in which any land proposed to be affected is situated; or
2. (ii) by any county council, notification of the building line proposed to be prescribed shall be sent to the local authority for every district in which any land proposed to be affected is situated, and to every authority fur the time being authorised to make a scheme under the Town Planning Act, 1925, or under any enactment repealed by that Act, in respect of any such district,

and any observations by an authority to whom notification has been sent as aforesaid, which are made within three months after the receipt of the notification shall be considered by the authority proposing to prescribe the building line.

§ (2) Any building line proposed to be prescribed and every building line prescribed under this section shall he distinctly marked and shown on plans to be signed by, and deposited with, the clerk of the authority prescribing the building line, and the said plans shall be at all reasonable times thereafter open for the inspection of the public without charge; and any county council or other highway authority prescribing a building line under this section—

(a) before the building line is prescribed shall give notice in writing of the proposal to prescribe the building line and of the times and place at which the plans aforesaid can be inspected, by serving a notice in writing upon every owner, occupier and lessee of land proposed to be affected, and shall consider any objection to the proposal made within six weeks after the service of the notice;
(b) within six weeks after the building line has been prescribed, shall cause the plan showing the 644 building line to be sealed and authenticated by the signature of their clerk, and shall serve upon every owner, occupier and lessee of land affected a notice in writing of the prescription of the building line and of the times and place at which the said plan can be inspected.

§ (3) Where a building line prescribed under this section is in force it shall not be lawful, except with the consent of the authority by whom the building line was prescribed, to erect or make nearer to the middle of the highway than the building line, any new building, other than a boundary wall or fence, or any permanent excavation below the level of the highway:

§ Provided that the consent of a county council or other highway authority for the purposes of this subsection may be given subject to such conditions as the authority think fit to impose, and any conditions so imposed shall be binding upon any successor in title to the owner, occupier or lessee of any land to which they relate.

§ (4) If any person erects or makes, or permits to be erected or made, any new building, or permanent excavation in contravention of the provisions of this section he shall without prejudice to any other proceedings which may be taken against him, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and any person so convicted shall, within such time as the court may allow, remove any building erected, or fill in any excavation made in contravention of this section, and if he fails to do so he shall be deemed to commit, a continuing offence, and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding forty shillings for each day upon which such failure continues.

§ (5) Any person who proves that his property is injuriously affected by the prescription of a building line under this section shall, if he makes a claim within six months after the prescription thereof, or in the case of an owner, occupier or lessee, within six months after the service upon him of a notice of the prescription thereof, be entitled to recover from the county council or other highway authority by whom the building line was prescribed, compensation for the injury sustained, and any question whether compensation is payable under this section, or as to the amount of any compensation so payable, shall in default of agreement be determined by an official arbitrator appointed under the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919:

§ Provided that in determining any such question as aforesaid—

(a) no compensation shall be payable to any person in respect of anything done by him or on his behalf after the date of the service upon him of a notice of the proposal to prescribe a building line, except in respect of anything done in pursuance of a contract made, or 645 for the purpose of finishing a building begun, before that date; and
(b) there shall be taken into account any benefit accruing to the person to whom compensation is payable, by reason of any improvement made or about to be made to the highway.

§ (6) In the administrative County of London the powers conferred by this section shall not be exercised except by the London County Council, and may be exercised by that council in relation to any highway, whether maintainable by them, by the Common Council of the City of London, or by a metropolitan borough council; and all expenses of the London County Council incurred under this section, so far as not defrayed out of any advance made by the Minister, shall be defrayed as expenses for general county purposes:

§ Provided that the Common Council of the City of London and any metropolitan borough council may, as part of the general expenses of the council, pay or contribute towards the payment of any expenses incurred by the London County Council wunder this section.

§ (7) The powers conferred by this section shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any powers conferred by any other Act:

§ Provided that, a county council or other highway authority shall not, except with the consent of the Minister of Health and subject to any conditions imposed by him, exercise the powers conferred by this section with respect to any land to which a resolution having effect under section two of the Town Planning Act, 1925, or under any corresponding enactment repealed by that Act, extends.

§ (8) Nothing in this section shall affect—

(a) any right of statutory undertakers for gas, water, electricity, tramways, or light railways to make any excavation for the purpose of laying altering, repairing, or renewing any main, pipe, electric line, duct, or other apparatus; or
(b) any land belonging to a railway company or to the owners, trustees, or conservators acting under powers conferred by Parliament, of any canal, inland navigation, dock, or harbour where the land is held by them for the purposes of their railway, canal, inland navigation, dock, or harbour, except in so far as they may consent thereto; or
(c)any land specifically authorised by Parliament to be used by any statutory undertakers for the manufacture or storage of gas the generating of electricity, or as a pumping station or reservoir for water, except in so far as the undertakers may consent thereto:

§ Provided that any consent required for the purposes of this subsection shall not unreasonably withheld, and any question 646 whether or not consent so required is unreasonably withheld shall be determined by the Minister after consultation with the Minister of Health"

§ The noble Viscount said: My Lords, This is a re-drafting of the clause which was moved by Lord Strachie, and I think he is quite satisfied with it. Subject to certain minor alterations the new clause embodies the clause now in the Bill and the Amendments which were put down by Lord Strachie and Lord Stuart of Wortley. There is only one exception, and that is that the unfettered power of the authority to require, without any appeal to any one, the demolition of any part of any existing building which projects in front of the building line finds no place in the new clause. It is really quite unnecessary because it could not alter the amounts of compensation payable supposing, the road is to be widened. I therefore move this clause in fulfilment of the promise that I made. I told the noble Lord, I think, in accepting his clause, that it would be necessary to introduce certain changes in it, and I understand that the effort to adapt the noble Lord's clause to this Bill has been a considerable one and has caused the draftsmen and the Department a good deal of anxious thought.

§ Amendment moved— Page 6, line 33, leave out Clause 5 and insert the said new clause.—(Viscount Peel.)

§ LORD STRACHIE
My Lords, may I just say on behalf of the County Councils' Association that we are perfectly satisfied with the alterations that have been made? I should like also to express my thanks and those of the County Councils' Association to the noble Viscount for having met me so reasonably. I would also express my thanks to the noble Marquess the Leader of the House, who, I understand, has also interested the Ministry of Health in this question.

§ LORD BANBURY OF SOUTHAM
My Lords, this clause covers four pages of the Marshalled List of Amendments. I dare say that it is all right, but I must confess that I do not understand it. It apparently deals with the power to prescribe building lines. I seem to remember that only yesterday we passed a Bill called the Public Health Bill through one of its stages and this Bill also gave power to prescribe building lines. I hope that this 647 clause does not conflict with the power that we gave yesterday, but I must leave it entirely in the hands of my noble friend, because I do not in the least know what it all means.

§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.

§ VISCOUNT PEEL moved, after Clause 6, to insert the following new Clause:

§ "Joint exercise of powers.

§ 7. The powers conferred by this Act upon the Minister, or any county council or other highway authority may, by agreement between any of them respectively, be exercised jointly, and any such agreement may provide for the apportionment of any expenses incurred thereunder."

§ The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this is really a drafting Amendment. It makes applicable both to Clause 5 and Clause 1 the power already contained in Clause 4 for authorities to agree to the joint exercise of powers in the apportionment of expenses. It is purely an enabling provision.

§ Amendment moved— Page 11, line 25, at end insert the said new clause.—(Viscount Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 7 [Expenses]:

§ VISCOUNT PEEL
My Lords, I have a drafting Amendment to this clause.

§ Amendment moved— Page 11, line 30, after ("shall") insert ("except as otherwise in this Act expressly provided").—(Viscount Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 8 [Determination of Questions]:

§ VISCOUNT PEEL
My Lords, my Amendments to this clause also are drafting, and are due to the special provision of Clause 5 as to the ascertainment of compensation.

§ Amendments moved—

§ Page 11, line 36, leave out ("under this Act")

§ Page 11, line 37, leave out from ("under") to ("or") in line 38, and insert ("any of the provisions of this Act except section five thereof")

§ Page 11, line 40, after ("under") insert ("section four of")

§ Page 11, Page 12, line 5, after ("under") insert ("section four of")

§ Page 11, line 15, after ("under") insert ("section four of")—(Viscount Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.

648

§ Clause 9:

§ Interpretation, short title, and extent.

§ 9.—(1) In this Act the expression "roads" includes bridges, viaducts, subways, road-ferries and footways, and the expressions "common," "open space," and "allotment" have the meanings respectively assigned to them by the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act, 1909.

§ (2) In the application of this Act to Scotland—

(a)the expression "highway authority" shall mean a county council or a district committee in a county divided into districts or a town council charged with the management and maintenance of the highways in the burgh;
(b) the expression "county court" shall mean sheriff's court;
(c) subsection (3) of section one shall not apply as regards any highway authority, but the powers conferred by that section shall not be exercised by any county council, district committee, or town council in any land forming part of a highway unless the county council, district committee, or the town council of the county, district, or burgh in which such highway is situated is charged with the management and maintenance thereof;
(d) paragraph (ii) of the proviso to section four shall not apply, but a notice restraining the erection of any building on land situated within a burgh the town council of which is not charged with the management and maintenance of the highways therein shall not be served without the consent of such town council.

§ (3) This Act may be cited as the Roads Improvement Act, 1925.

§ (4) This Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland.

§ VISCOUNT PEEL moved to leave out Clause 9 and insert the following new clauses:—

§ Provisions as to notices.

§ 10. Subject as hereinafter provided, every notice which may be served under this Act may be served either by delivering it or leaving it at the usual or last known place of abode of the person on whom it is to be served, or by sending it by post as a registered letter addressed to him at his usual or last known place of abode, or if that cannot be found, by fixing it on some conspicuous part of the land; and any such notice or document may be addressed, as the case may require, to the "owner," "occupier," or "lessee" of the land (describing it) without further name or description:

649

§ Provided that a notice requiring the owner or occupier of land to alter the height or character of any wall, fence or hedge thereon shall be served personally upon him or his agent, or upon some person having charge of his affairs, and if the notice is served upon the occupier a copy thereof shall be served upon the owner, or if it is served upon the owner a copy thereof shall be served upon the occupier of the land.

§ Interpretation.

§ 11. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say—

§ "Building" includes any erection of whatsoever material and in whatsoever manner constructed, and any part of ft building;

§ "common, open space and Allotment" have the meanings respectively assigned to them by the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act, 1905;

§ "Fence" includes any hoarding or paling;

§ "Hedge" includes any tree or shrub, whether forming part of a hedge or not;

§ "Local authority for the district" means as respects land within the administrative County of London, the Common Council of the City of London, or a metropolitan borough council, as the case may require, and as respects any other land, the district council:

§ "Now building" includes any addition to an existing building;

§ "Owner" has the same meaning as in The Public Health Acts, 1875 to 1907;

§ "Road" includes any bridge, viaduct, subway, road, Ferry and footway;

§ "Wall" includes any partition of whatsoever material constructed, and any bank.

§ Application to Scotland.

§ 12. In the application of this Act to Scotland—

(a) a reference to the Scottish Board of Health shall be substituted for any reference to the Minister of Health, and a reference to the Town Planning (Scotland) Act, 1925, shall be substituted for any reference to the Town Planning Act, 1925;
(b) The expression "highway authority" shall mean a county council or a district committee in a county divided into districts, or a town council charged with the management and maintenance of the highways in the burgh;
(c) The expression "county court" shall mean sheriff court;
(d) Subsection (3) of section one shall not apply as regards any highway authority, but the powers conferred by that section shall not be exercised by arty county council, district committee, or town council in any highway or in any land forming part thereof unless the county council, district committee, or the town council of the county, district or burgh in which such highway is situated is charged with the management and maintenance thereof;
(e) Paragraph (ii) of the proviso to subsection (1) of section four, and paragraph (b) of the proviso to subsection (1) of section five shall not apply. but a notice restraining the erection of any building on land situated within a burgh the town council of which is not charged with the management and maintenance of the highways therein, shall not be served without the consent of such town council, and a building line affecting land within any such burgh shall not be prescribed by a county council or by a district committee without the consent of the town council of such burgh.

§ Short title and extent.

§ 13.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Roads Improvement Act, 1925.

§ (2) This Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland."

§ The noble Viscount said: My Lords, these clauses merely gather together the provisions as regards notice which occur separately in Clauses 4 and 5, and accordingly they are purely drafting.

§ Amendment moved— Page 12, line 24, leave out Clause 9 and insert the said new clauses.—(Viscount Peel.)

§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.