§ Sir H. CAUTLEYasked the Minister of Health (1) whether he is aware that a hammer pond at Horsted Keynes, in Sussex, the property of the Ashdown Land Company, has recently been held by an inspector to be a large reservoir, under the provisions of the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act, 1930, and the owners have been called upon to do works costing about £1,980; that the pond has been in its present condition for about 400 years and no escape of water has ever occurred and, if any such escape did occur, there would be no danger to life; that such expenditure is prohibitive, and the owners are compelled to let the pond remain nearly empty, and a mill which is 1644W driven by water therefrom, and employs five men, cease work; and whether he will take steps to exclude such a pond from the provisions of the Act;
(2) whether be is aware that under the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act, 1930, a number of old Sussex hammer ponds, large in size but of moderate depth and of great age, and made for the purposes of the old Sussex ironworks, have been held to be subject to this Act, with the result that the owners are being called upon to expend large sums of money or let their ponds remain empty; and whether he will introduce an amending Act exempting such ponds and providing that depth and the resulting pressure, rather than area and a figure of 5,000,000 gallons of water alone, shall be the test of what is a large reservoir within the Act?
§ Sir J. GILMOURSection 2 of the Act requires undertakers or owners with large reservoirs to have them periodically inspected by a qualified civil engineer, and provides that if the engineer recommends that any measures should be taken in the interests of safety, the undertakers must, subject to appeal to a referee within a prescribed time, carry such measures into effect as soon as practicable; and I have no doubt that in considering whether any such measures are necessary, engineers would consider whether the depth and pressure of the water are sufficient to cause danger, as well as other circumstances of the particular case. I have received from the Ashdown Land Company some particulars as to one case referred to by my hon. and learned Friend, but I have no knowledge of any others or any evidence that the Act does not make adequate provision to protect reservoir owners from having to carry out works which are not necessary in the interests of safety; and, in the absence of such evidence, I could not contemplate legislation to relieve them of their present obligations.