HL Deb 18 May 1933 vol 87 cc953-6

Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.

THE EARL OF ONSLOW

My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time.

Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(The Earl of Onslow.)

LORD DICKINSON

My Lords, I crave the indulgence of the House to say a few words upon this Bill, which went through the other House, I believe, unopposed, and in all probability will pass through this House unopposed, and, therefore, this is the only opportunity I have to say a word on behalf of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, a society which has interested itself very much indeed in a particular clause of this Bill—a clause which I think your Lordships will see is one of rather special importance. The clause to which I refer is one which says that for the purpose of the construction, widening or alteration of any street the local authority—that is to say, the London County Council or any Metropolitan Borough Council—may utilise any part of any open space vested in them or under their control. That is subject to certain conditions which I will explain in a moment, but before I do so I should like to point out that this particular proposal, when it was first put forward, caused the society for which I am speaking, and other societies interested in the amenities of London, very grave concern, because it proposed to change the whole law with regard to some hundreds of gardens and open spaces in London which are of very great value to the people of London.

The society for which I am speaking is particularly interested, because it has on many occasions either contributed to or raised money for the purchase of these garden spaces, and these garden spaces in every case have been vested in the local authorities under a very important trust—namely, that they shall remain in the condition in which they are for ever. It has been on the faith of such a, trust as that that donors have given money and banded over land for the purpose of utilising it as gardens and places of recreation for the people of London. The local authorities hitherto—that is to say, the London County Council and Metropolitan Borough Councils—have been constituted the trustees with the duty of maintaining these spaces in the condition in which they were and for the purposes for which they were given. This Bill proposes to enable the trustees to depart from that trust and to utilise any part of these spaces for the purpose of street widening.

We quite agree that there has been a considerable problem raised by the requirements of traffic in cities like London, but we feel that, notwithstanding that, these garden spaces should not be sacrificed to that need. There is, as I say, great need for them. I believe that in no fewer than 90 cases in the last few years local authorities have actually proceeded to appropriate portions of those spaces, and by this Bill your Lordships are asked to legalise that illegality which has been committed. The attitude we have taken is not that the society I represent thinks the local authorities will not exercise due caution in the use of this particular power, but that we realise that the demands of traffic are so overwhelming that it is extraordinarily difficult for any authority to resist the claim to take parts of these spaces and utilise them for streets.

Accordingly, our society approached the London County Council and I readily acknowledge the generous treatment that the County Council have afforded to our representations. They have met us in many respects. We do not see eye to eye altogether, but they have assented to the conditions which have been inserted in the Bill, and on the strength of that we have decided not to oppose the Bill either in another place or in this House. The protective provisions are to this effect. First of all, no action shall be taken without the approval of the Ministry of Health; secondly, if possible the money obtained for this land shall be expended on other open spaces; and thirdly, notice is to be given so that the public will know on every occasion what is going to happen and what particular open space is in danger. Subject to those conditions, although we feel that they are not as satisfactory as we should have desired, we have accepted the Bill and do not present any formal opposition to it.

I have ventured to say these few words in order that we may make clear on this occasion our earnest desire that the local authorities in London and also the Minister of Health—or the Minister of Agriculture in some cases—will exercise the greatest care in acceding to any request which may arise in the future to utilise these gardens for streets. They are, as your Lordships will realise, of immense value. Almost every inch of garden ground in London is of immense value to the public at, the present moment. We can foresee that circumstances may arise in which serious demands will be made for the exercise of this particular power. I thank your Lordships for allowing me to make this statement. This is the only opportunity we have of expressing our earnest desire that, whatever authority has to deal with this matter, will hesitate very long before agreeing to the conversion of what is now garden ground in a great wilderness of streets into places of danger rather than places of safety as they are now.

On Question, Bill read 2a.