57 & 58 Vict. c. ccxiii. s. 6. structural alteration of the whole house or necessitate an alteration in its business purposes; but if the part to be removed is so indissolubly linked to the house that this cannot be removed without destroying its identity, the local authority must treat for the whole house. The question as to the character of the proposed alteration was in the same case held to be a question of fact, to be found before the Queen's Bench Division could decide whether or not the local authority had properly exercised its jurisdiction under the Act. By sect. 120 of the Metropolis Management Act, 1855, which section was enacted before sect. 80 of 57 Geo. III. c. 29 was applied to the whole of the Metropolis, it is provided that : 'It shall be lawful for every Vestry and District Board, if any Projection or Obstruction which has been placed or made against or in front of any House or Building in any such Street before the Commencement of this Act shall be an Annoyance as aforesaid, to cause the same to be removed or altered as they think fit: Provided always, that the Vestry or Board shall give Notice in Writing of such intended Removal or Alteration to the Owner or Occupier against or in front of whose House or Building such Projection or Obstruction shall be, Seven Days before such Removal or Alteration shall be commenced, and shall make reasonable Compensation to every Person who shall incur any Loss or Damage by such Removal, excepting in Cases where the Obstruction or Projection may now be removable under any Act, in which Case no Compensation shall be made.' The Metropolitan Board of Works, now the London County Council, was given power to make, widen, or improve any streets, roads, or ways, for facilitating the passage and traffic between different parts of the Metropolis, or to contribute and join with any person in any such improvements, and to acquire for that purpose any land, rights in land, or property, by sect. 144 of the Metropolis Management Act, 1855, which will be found in Appendix I., post. By sect. 72 of the Metropolis Management Amendment Act, 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 102), it is enacted that : : The Vestry of every Parish mentioned in Schedule A. to the firstly-recited Act, and the District Board of every District, shall, with the previous Consent in Writing of the Metropolitan Board of Works, have Power within their respective Parish or District to make, extend, widen, alter, or improve any Street, Road, or Way, or any Bridge over a Canal traversing any Part of such Parish or District, for the Purpose of facilitating Passage and Traffic, or for any other public Purpose; or to contribute and join with the Metropolitan Board, or with any other Body or Persons, in any such Improvements; and to take by Agreement or Gift any Land, Right in Land, or Property for the Purposes aforesaid, or any of them, on such Terms and Conditions as they may think fit; and for the Purposes aforesaid it shall be lawful for any Vestry s. 6. or District Board, should they see fit, to take down the present 57 & 58 Vict. Bridges over Canals within their Parish or District, and to erect c. ccxiii. others in their Place and Stead, or to erect new Bridges over such Canals in such Situations as they may deem beneficial, and from Time to Time to repair and maintain such existing or new Bridges, and to indemnify the Canal Company or other Body or Persons interested in such Bridges against the future Repairs and Maintenance of any such Bridges; and the Expenses incurred by any Vestry or District Board in any such Improvements shall be paid out of the general Rate authorised to be raised in their Parish or District under the firstly-recited Act: Provided that no such Extension, Widening, Alteration, Improvement, taking down, or Re-erection of any existing Bridge over any such Canal, or the Erection of any new Bridge over the same, shall be made without the previous Consent in Writing under their Common Seal of the Company owning such Canal, and the Provisions of the One hundred and seventh Section of the firstly-recited Act shall remain in force and be applicable to this Enactment: Provided also, that it shall be lawful for any such Vestry or District Board, under the Provision contained in the One hundred and eighty-third Section of the firstly-recited Act, to borrow and take up at Interest on the Credit of all or any of the Moneys or Rates authorised to be raised by them under that Act any sums necessary for defraying the Expenses of any such Improvements: Provided, that nothing in this Act shall extend or be construed to extend to authorise the taking down or removing any Bar, Gate, Rail, or other Fence fixed for preventing any Thoroughfare into or from any Square, Street, or Way, without the Consent of the Proprietor of the Estate or Property upon which such Bar, Gate, Rail, or other Fence, Square, Street, or Way shall be situate Provided that this Enactment shall not limit the Powers in force given by the Act next hereinafter referred to, or by any Local Act. Sect. 107 of 18 & 19 Vict. c. 120 contained a similar provision to that in the last proviso to the section but one, that nothing in the Act was to authorise the removal of any bar, gate, rail, or other fence fixed for preventing any thoroughfare into or from any square, street, or way, without the consent of the proprietor of the estate or property on which it was situate. The section only applied to bars, &c., which existed at the time of the passing of the Act, and it and the proviso to sect. 72 have become inoperative, various local Acts having been since passed under which such bars, &c., have been removed. For the purpose of widening and improving streets, Vestries and District Boards are empowered to borrow money by sect. 100 of the Metropolis Management Amendment Act, 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 102), which enacts that : 'It shall be lawful for every Vestry and District Board mentioned in Clause One hundred and eighty-three of the firstrecited Act to exercise the Power to borrow Moneys therein c. ccxiii. s. 7. 57 & 58 Vict. mentioned, with the Sanction of the Metropolitan Board of Works granted under their Common Seal, for the Purpose of enabling such Vestry or District Board to make, extend, widen, alter, or improve any Street, Road, or Way, for facilitating the Passage and Traffic within the Parish or District for which such Vestry or District Board is appointed, or for the Purpose of contributing to and of joining with the Metropolitan Board or with any other Board or Persons in any such Improvement.' Sanction to formation of new streets. 7. Before any person commences to form or lay out any street whether intended to be used for carriage traffic or for foot traffic only such person shall make an application in writing to the Council for their sanction to the formation or laying out of such street either for carriage traffic or for foot traffic (as the case may be): Every such application shall be accompanied by plans and sections with such particulars in relation thereto as may be required by printed regulations issued by the Council, and the Council shall forthwith communicate every such application to the local authority: And no person shall commence to form or lay out any street for carriage traffic or for foot traffic without having obtained the sanction of the Council. Sanction of the Council.-The approval of the Council of any plans or particulars is to be signified in writing under the hand of the Superintending Architect (see sect. 195, post, p. 278), and such approval may be subject to any conditions the Council may think fit to prescribe, subject, however, to the reasonableness of such conditions, and to the appeal to the Tribunal of Appeal given by sect. 19, post (see sects. 9, post, p. 48, and 190, post, p. 276). Unless an order is made refusing to sanction the application, and notice is given of such refusal within two months, the Council is to be deemed to have given its sanction thereto (see sect. 9, post). The plans and particulars delivered pursuant to this sect. will, upon delivery, become the property of the Council (see sect. 194, post, p. 278). Should any person commence to form or lay out a street without having first obtained the sanction of the Council, or should he commence to do so otherwise than in accordance with any conditions prescribed by the Council or by the Tribunal of Appeal, he will render himself liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, and to a daily penalty not exceeding forty shillings, see sect. 200 (1, a), post, p. 281. Previously to the commencement of this Act, the application to the Council for its sanction to the formation of a public carriage way was not necessary unless it was proposed to lay out as a public carriage way a road, passage, or way, which would not, when completed, directly communicate at both ends with a public carriage way, London Council (General Powers) Act, 1890, s. 35, London County Council v. Edmonson (66 L. T. (N.S.) 200; 56 J. P. 343). The sanction of the Council was, however, necessary if it was proposed to lay out a passage or 57 & 58 Vict. way for building as a street for foot traffic only. Metropolitan c. ccxiii. Building (Amendment) Act, 1882, sect. 8. Under those s. 7. sections three months' notice to the Council was required. Sect. 8, post, specifies when a person shall be deemed for the purposes of this Part of the Act to form or lay out a street; and sect. 9, post, limits the power of the Council to refuse to sanction, or to sanction subject to conditions, the formation or laying out of a street to the cases therein mentioned. Person. This expression includes any body of persons corporated or unincorporated. See the Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63, s. 19). Plans, sections, and particulars.-Power is conferred upon the London County Council by sect. 164, post, p. 249, to make byelaws with respect to the regulation of the plans, level, width, surface, and inclination of new streets, &c., which byelaws are to be published in the London Gazette, and printed and hung up at the County Hall, and are to be open to public inspection without payment, and copies whereof are to be delivered to applicants on payment of a sum not exceeding twopence. The Act does not say where the County Hall is, but presumably the offices of the London County Council in Spring Gardens are meant by such expression. See sect. 194, post, p. 278; and the byelaws and Standing Orders of the Council of January 1, 1895, in Appendix III., post. Printed regulations.-Copies of the printed regulations of the Council issued for the purposes of this Part of the Act are to be kept at the County Hall, and are to be supplied to applicants without charge, see sect. 18, post, p. 75. These regulations will be found in No. II. (1) of the Council's regulations of January 1, 1895, in Appendix III. Pt. II., post. Exemptions.-Sect. 20, p. 76, exempts from the provisions of this Part of the Act private roads formed or laid out by Railway Companies as approaches to stations or station yards, or as approaches to lands used for railway purposes; and sect. 21 prevents the Act from applying to buildings to be erected upon lands belonging to the School Board for London in certain cases. Width of streets.-As the Council is only empowered, except in the cases mentioned in sect. 12, to refuse its sanction to the formation or laying-out of a street, so far as the width of the proposed street is concerned where such street, if intended for carriage traffic, will not be forty feet in width, or if intended for foot traffic only will not be twenty feet in width, it is obvious that the width of new streets intended for carriage traffic is intended to be forty feet at least, and the width of new streets intended for foot traffic only is intended to be twenty feet at least. These were the widths prescribed by the previous Acts. Sect. 12 enables the Council in certain cases to require new streets intended for carriage traffic to be formed or laid out of a width greater than forty feet, but not greater than sixty feet. Should the Council refuse its sanction to the forination or c. ccxiii. s. 7. 57 & 58 Vict. laying out of a street which when formed or laid out will not in any respect contravene the Act or come within any of the cases specified in sect. 9, such refusal will form a ground for appeal to the Tribunal of Appeal under sect. 19, post, p. 75. District Surveyors are, under section 155, post, p. 245, to be paid by the London County Council such fees in respect of services which they may perform in pursuance of the Act in relation to the formation or laying out of streets as the Council shall from time to time determine; and by sect. 158, post, p. 247, the Council is empowered to cause such surveyors to be remunerated by means of a fixed salary instead of by fees. Street. This expression is defined by section 5 (1), ante, p.6, and since the expression 'way' is defined by the following subsection to include roads, ways, or footpaths which are not streets, the expression 'street' would appear to be confined to such roads, ways, or footpaths as would ordinarily be described as streets, that is to say, as roads, ways, or footpaths having or intended to have houses more or less on both sides thereof. See the notes to the definition of 'street,' ante, p. 6. It is noticeable that the Act draws a distinction between the laying out or formation of a street for carriage or foot traffic, and the adaptation of a street or way not previously used for such traffic, for use either as a carriage-way or as a foot-way, see sect. 10, post, p. 55. The present and the two following sections appear therefore to apply solely to new streets. As to when an old way may become a new street see the cases referred to in the note to sect. 5 (1), ante, p. 7, and the cases mentioned in the note to section 9, post, p. 50. Form or lay out any street. The present section deals with the formation and laying out of streets for carriage or foot traffic as the case may be; while sect. 10 deals with the adaptation of a carriage or foot traffic of streets or ways not previously so adapted or used. With regard to the formation and laying out of streets upon areas which have been cleared of the buildings previously existing thereon, see sect. 44, post, p. 108. See also sect. 124 of 18 & 19 Vict. c. 120 in Appendix I., post, for the provisions for the protection of the public during the laying out and forming of streets. It will be a question of fact in every case whether what is proposed to be done will be or will amount to the formation or laying out of a street within this section or merely the adaptation of a street or way within sect. 10. The following may be cited as instances, viz., in 1864, several plots of land abutting on one side of a lane which was an ancient carriage-way with buildings at intervals on both sides erected before 1862, were sold for building purposes, the lane varied in width from forty-one feet to twenty-eight feet, which was the width opposite the plots, and on the other side of the road was a permanent enclosure belonging to a church and other buildings erected before 1862. In July, 1865, the appellant bought the plots, houses having been built upon two of them, the front walls of which were |