Allotments Act 1887
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1887 c. 48 |
| Year | 1887 |
Allotments Act, 1887
(50 & 51 Vict.) CHAPTER 48.
An Act to facilitate the provision of Allotments for the Labouring Classes.
[16th September 1887]
B E it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1 Short title.
1. This Act may be cited as theAllotments Act, 1887.
2 Duty of sanitary authority to acquire land for allotments.
(1)2.—(1.) On a representation in writing to the sanitary authority of any urban or rural district by any six registered parliamentary electors or ratepayers resident, in the case of an urban district, in that district, and, in the case of a rural district, in some parish in that district, that the circumstances of the urban district or parish are such that it is the duty of the sanitary authority to take proceedings under this Act therein, the sanitary authority shall take such representation into consideration.
If the sanitary authority of any urban or rural district are of opinion, either after inquiry made in consequence of such representation or otherwise, that there is a demand for allotments for the labouring population in such urban district, or in any parish in such rural district, and that such allotments cannot be obtained at a reasonable rent and on reasonable conditions by voluntary arrangement between the owners of land suitable for such allotments and the applicants for the same, the sanitary authority, subject to the provisions of this Act, shall by purchase or hire acquire any suitable land which may be available, whether within or without their district or the said parish, adequate to provide a sufficient number of allotments, and shall let such land in allotments to persons belonging to the labouring population resident in the said district or parish and desiring to take the same.
(2) (2.) A sanitary authority shall not under this Act acquire land for allotments save at such price or rent that in the opinion of the sanitary authority all expenses, except such expenses as are incurred in making roads to be used by the public, incurred by the sanitary authority in acquiring the land and otherwise in relation to the allotments may reasonably be expected to be recouped out of the rents obtained in respect thereof.
For the purpose of this section, the expression ‘reasonable rent’ means the rent, exclusive of rates, taxes, and tithe rentcharge which a person taking an allotment might reasonably be expected to pay, taking one year with another, to a landlord, having regard to the value of similar land in the neighbourhood, to the extent and situation of the allotment, to the expenses of adapting the land to the purposes of the allotment, and to the repairs and other outgoings payable by the landlord, and to the cost and risk of collecting the rents of, and otherwise managing allotments.
3 Acquisition of land for purpose of Act.
(1)3.—(1.) For the purposes of the purchase of land by agreement by a sanitary authority for allotments, section one hundred and seventy-eight of the Public Health Act, 1875 , and the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 , and the Acts amending the same, shall be incorporated with this Act, except the provisions with respect to the purchase and taking of land otherwise than by agreement, and with respect to the provision to be made for affording access to the special Act.
(2) (2.) If a sanitary authority are unable by hiring or purchase by agreement to acquire suitable land sufficient for allotments under this Act for any district or parish at a reasonable price or rent and subject to reasonable conditions, such authority may petition the county authority of the county in which the district or parish is situate, and the county authority (after such inquiry and procedure as provided in the sections herein-after incorporated in this Act) may make a provisional order authorising the sanitary authority to put in force, as respects the land mentioned in the order, the provisions of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and the Acts amending the same with respect to the purchase and taking of land otherwise than by agreement.
(3) (3.) The Local Government Board, on the application of any county authority, shall introduce into Parliament a Bill confirming provisional orders made under this Act by such county authority, and the sanitary authority petitioning for the order shall be considered as the promoters of such order.
(4) (4.) For the purpose of the purchase of land under this section otherwise than by agreement, sections one hundred and seventy-six, two hundred and ninety-six, and two hundred and ninety-seven of the Public Health Act, 1875, shall, so far as consistent with the tenour of this Act, be incorporated with this Act, and apply as if they were herein re-enacted, with the substitution of ‘the county authority’ for ‘the Local Government Board,’ and of ‘any officer of the county authority appointed for the purpose of an inquiry’ for ‘inspectors of the Local Government Board.’
Provided that—
(a .) Any question of disputed compensation shall be referred to the arbitration of a single arbitrator appointed by the parties, or if the parties do not concur in the appointment of a single arbitrator, then, on the application of either of them, by the Local Government Board, and the remuneration to be paid to the arbitrator appointed by the Local Government Board shall be fixed by that Board:
(b .) If an arbitrator appointed for the purposes of this Act dies or becomes incapable to act before he has made his award, or fails to make his award within two months after he is appointed, his appointment shall determine, and the determination of the compensation shall be referred to another arbitrator appointed in like manner as if no arbitrator had been previously appointed: Provided always, that the same arbitrator may be re-appointed:
(c .) An arbitrator appointed under this section shall be deemed to be an arbitrator within the meaning of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and the Acts amending the same, and the provisions of those Acts with respect to an arbitration shall apply accordingly; and, further, the arbitrator, notwithstanding anything in the said Acts, shall determine the amount of the costs and shall have power to disallow as costs in the arbitration the costs of any witness whom he considers to have been called unnecessarily, and any other costs which he considers to have been incurred unnecessarily.
(5) (5.) In construing for the purposes of this section any section or Acts incorporated with this section, this Act, together with any Act confirming a provisional order under this section, shall be deemed to be the special Act, and the sanitary authority shall be deemed to be the local authority or the promoters of the undertaking, as the case requires, and the word ‘land’ shall have the same meaning as in this Act.
(6) (6.) Where land is purchased by a sanitary authority under this Act otherwise than by agreement, the following provisions shall apply:
(a .) The county authority shall not make a provisional order for purchasing any park, garden, pleasure-ground, or other land required for the amenity or convenience of any dwelling-house, or any land the property of a railway or canal company which is or may be required for the purposes of their undertaking:
(b .) The county authority shall, in making a provisional order for purchasing land, have regard to the extent of land held in the neighbourhood by any owner and to the convenience of other property belonging to the same owner, and shall so far as is practicable avoid taking an undue or inconvenient quantity of land from any one owner.
(7) (7.) For the purpose of the hiring of land by a sanitary authority for allotments, any person or body of persons or body corporate authorised to sell land to the sanitary authority for the purposes of this Act may, without prejudice to any other power of leasing lease land to the sanitary authority, without any fine or premium, for a term not exceeding thirty-five years.
(8) (8.) The county authority shall not make a Provisional Order for purchasing any right to coal or metalliferous ore.
4 Costs to be awarded in certain cases.
4. Where any Bill for confirming a Provisional Order made under this Act is referred to a committee of either House of Parliament upon the petition of any person opposing such Bill, the committee shall take into consideration the circumstances under which such opposition is made to the Bill, and whether such opposition was or was not justified by the circumstances, and shall award costs accordingly to be paid by the promoters or the opponents of the Bill, as the committee may think just.
Any costs under this section may be taxed and recovered in the manner in which costs may be taxed and recovered under the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth Victoria, chapter twenty-seven.
The decision of the majority of the members of the committee for the time being present and voting on any question under this section shall be deemed to be the decision of the committee.
5 Improvement and adaptation of land for allotments.
5. The sanitary authority may improve any land acquired by them under this Act, and adapt the same for letting in allotments, by draining, fencing, and dividing the same, acquiring approaches, making roads, and otherwise, as they think fit, and may from time to time do such things as may be necessary for maintaining such drains, fences, approaches, and roads, or otherwise for maintaining the allotments in a proper condition.
6 Management of allotments.
(1)6.—(1.) Subject to the...
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