24 Vict. c. 106), with the addition, as regards England and Wales, of Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 18), which, as amended, only refers to lands in Westminster, Lands Clauses (Umpire) Act, 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 15), and Lands Clauses (Taxation of Costs) Act, 1895 (58 & 59 Vict. c. 11); but it is to be remarked that the present section, unlike Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63), s. 23, does not contain the words "and any Acts for the time being in force amending the same." It is curious, too, that the 1869 Act is omitted. (h) By Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 43), ss. 33 and 34, any one of the magistrates of the metropolitan police courts, and every stipendiary magistrate for any county, borough or place, shall have power to do alone whatever is authorised by the Act to be done by one or more justices, and the Lord Mayor or any alderman of London, sitting at the Mansion House or Guildhall, may alone do any act which by any law then in force, or by any law not containing an express enactment to the contrary thereafter to be made, is directed to be done by more than one justice. By Metropolitan Police Courts Act, 1839 (2 & 3 Vict. c. 71), s. 14, and by Stipendiary Magistrates Act, 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. 73), s. 1, metropolitan magistrates (except at special or petty or quarter sessions) and stipendiary magistrates may do alone anything which by any law then in force, or any subsequent law not containing an express enactment to the contrary, is to be done by more than one justice. By Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879 (42 & 43 Vict. c. 49), s. 54, sects. 33 and 34 of Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1848, are not to apply to or restrict the operation of that Act. PART I. Provisional Orders authorising the Construction of Tramways. 4. Provisional Orders (i) authorising the construction of tramways in be obtained (k) by district any (1.) The local authority (7) of such district (1): or may Sect. 3. Provisional By whom Orders authorising the construction of tramways may be ob by(2.) Any person, persons, corporation, or company, tained. with the consent of the local authority of such district; or of the road authority (m) of such district where such district is or forms part of a highway district formed under the provisions of "The Highway Acts" (n) (o): Sect. 4. And any such local authority, person, persons, corporation, or company shall be deemed to be promoters of a tramway, and are in this Act referred to as "the promoters" (p). Application for a Provisional Order shall not be made by any local authority until such application shall be approved in the manner prescribed in Part III. of the Schedule (A.) to this Act annexed (1). Where in any district there is a road authority (m) distinct from the local authority, the consent of such road authority shall also be necessary in any case where power is sought to break up any road subject to the jurisdiction of such road authority, before any Provisional Order can be obtained (r). (i) Whether promoters proceed by Provisional Order or by special Act will generally depend on the amount and the nature of the opposition to their scheme. If it is such that opposition, under sect. 14, to the Confirmation Act is to be expected, it will be shorter and no more expensive to proceed by special Act; if it is such that it can be readily dealt with by the Board of Trade, then procedure by Provisional Order is preferable. (k) Provisional Orders may be revoked, amended or extended under sect. 16. This section ought to contain some reference to the Board of Trade, which is first mentioned in connection with a subsidiary matter in sect. 5. (1) Defined in sect. 3. (m) See the definition of " road authority" in sect. 3 and note (e) to that section. (n) The provisions as to the formation and alteration of highway districts are found in Highway Act, 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 61), ss. 5 to 8 and s. 39, and Highway Act, 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. 101), ss. 4 to 17. Highways and Locomotives (Amendment) Act, 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 77), s. 3, provides that the highway districts shall be formed so as to be as far as possible coincident in area with or contained in rural sanitary districts; and by sects. 4 and 5 the rural sanitary authority of a district so formed may apply to the county authority to be allowed to exercise the powers of a highway board, and, if their application is granted, all the property, powers, &c., of the highway board vest in them. The provisions of Local Government Act, 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), s. 25, transferring to rural district councils all the powers and duties of any highway authority in their district, subject to the power of the county council to postpone the operation of the section, have rendered the above-mentioned provisions of the Highways Acts practically obsolete. (0) The Board of Trade Rules I. and II. (pp. 324-5) deal with these consents, and by Rule XV. a complete list of the local and road authorities is to be deposited at the Board of Trade. Rule VII. provides for the service of notices on local and road authorities where application is made for extension of time or for authority to abandon. Standing Order 22 (post, p. 387) extends provisions similar to those of this section to Bills for the construction of tramways, adding that in a rural district in England the rural district council shall be deemed to be the local authority. In the case of the Tramways Orders (No. 3) (Woolwich and South-East London) Bill (1883), 3 Cl. & R. 360, the Referees held that the Committee had no power to determine whether the grant of a Provisional Order was ultra vires, the Board of Trade having relied on the promoters' statement that the consent of a local authority, which had not been given, was unnecessary. They thought that that was a question which ought to be raised before the House itself on second reading or committal. Now, by Standing Order (H. L.) 22 (post, p. 387), all these consents have to be obtained before January 18. The Standing Orders Committee may dispense with particular consents under proper circumstances, just as they may dispense with compliance with other Standing Orders. Where consents are obtained on terms, the terms may be embodied, in the case of a Bill, in clauses or in a scheduled agreement. In the case of a Provisional Order, the Board of Trade will embody in the Order such of the terms as it thinks desirable, and leave the remainder to be enforced by an ordinary unconfirmed agreement. As to two-thirds consent, see next section. A local authority made an agreement with an individual that they should call on him to apply for powers to make a certain tramway when they deemed such tramway necessary, and that he, if he obtained such powers, should pay them certain wayleaves for the use of the tramway. They also agreed that they would not consent to the application by anyone else for such powers without first calling upon the other party to the agreement to apply for the powers. This agreement was held to be intra vires of the local authority. (Attorney-General v. Hastings Corporation (1902), 19 T. L. R. 9.) (p) See also sect. 24 and notes thereto. (9) And see Board of Trade Rule I., post, p. 324. By sect. 17 several local authorities may make a joint application. (r) The Board of Trade's powers as to Provisional Orders are preserved for Scotland by Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) S. H Sect. 4. Sect. 4. The Board of Trade may in certain cases dispense sent of local or road authority. Act, 1899 (62 & 63 Vict. c. 47), s. 16 (2), as to the scope of which see Falkirk and District Tramways (1901), 38 S. L. R. 863. 5. Where it is proposed to lay down a tramway in two or more districts, and any local or road authority having jurisdiction in any of such districts does not with the con- consent thereto, the Board of Trade (s) may, nevertheless, make a Provisional Order authorising the construction of such tramway if they are satisfied, after inquiry (t), that two thirds of the length of such tramway is proposed to be laid in a district or in districts the local and road authority or the local and road authorities of which district or districts do consent thereto; and in such case they shall make a special report stating the grounds upon which they have made such order (u). (s) That is "The Lords of the Committee for the time being of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of matters relating to trade and foreign plantations." (Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63), s. 12 (8).) (t) The provisions as to the holding of inquiries are given in sect. 63. But the words of this section do not compel the Board of Trade to hold a formal inquiry under that section; they may inquire and satisfy themselves as they please. Compare sect. 7. (u) Standing Order 22 extends provisions similar to these to special tramway Bills, and it has been decided that a local authority, whose consent has been dispensed with under that Standing Order, is not thereby precluded from being heard against the Bill. (Glasgow Corporation Tramways Bill (1878), 2 Cl. & R. 95: see ante, p. 33.) It is probable, however, that a local authority, with whose consent the Board thought fit to dispense after due consideration of the facts, would have little chance of success in the Committee Rooms. But it has happened occasionally, however, that the Board has allowed an Order to go forward for the purpose of having the grounds of opposition of a recalcitrant local authority thrashed out in Committee on the Confirmation Bill. Generally, the Board is unwilling to dispense with consents under this section where local or road authorities have jurisdiction over any substantial portion of the proposed route, or where they have any real grounds for objection; or, if it dispenses with their consents, it will do so only upon conditions imposed on the promoters for the dissentients' protection. 6. The promoters (x) intending to make an application for a Provisional Order shall proceed as follows (y): : Sect. 6. Notices and deposit of documents (1.) In the months of October and November next by promoters before their application, or in one of those months, they shall publish notice of their (2.) On or before the thirtieth day of the same schedule, according to the regulations therein (3.) On or before the twenty-third day of December All maps, plans, and documents required by this Act to be deposited for the purposes of any Provisional Order may be deposited with the persons and in the manner directed by the Act of the session of Parliament held in the seventh year of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth and the first year of Her present Majesty, intituled "An Act to compel clerks of the peace for counties and other persons to take the custody of such documents as shall be directed to be deposited with them under the Standing Orders of either House of Parliament;" and all the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly (d). (x) See sects. 4 and 24. |