PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 1848. and deposited with town clerks; clerks to improvement commis sioners; cierks to justices; clerks to guardians: churchwardens, &c. Provisional orders to be And shall be deposited With the town clerk of any corporate borough affected thereby, And with the clerk to the commissioners or trustees acting under any such local Act, Also with the clerk to the justices acting for any petty sessional division in which such parts may be, And with the clerk of the board of guardians of the union or parish, the whole or part of which may be affected thereby; And if such provisional order relate to parts not being within any corporate borough, the said board shall cause other copies of the same to be deposited with the churchwardens or overseers of the poor of any parish in which such parts, or any of them may be: And in case it shall be enacted by any Act of parsanctioned by liament hereafter to be passed, that the whole or part of any provisional order or orders of the general board of health shall be confirmed and be absolute, the whole or part of such provisional order or orders which shall be so confirmed shall be as binding and of the like force and effect as if the same had been expressly enacted by parliament, and every such Act shall be deemed a public general Act (1): a public general Act: (1) The very large powers contained in this clause were introduced with a view to the consolidation of existing local improvement powers under one management, and for the purpose of preventing a conflict of local jurisdiction. The principle of the machinery is adopted from the Inclosure Act (8 & 9 Vict. c. 98), and, coupled with the provision contained c. 63, s. 10. but to be of no force until so But no such provisional order shall have any force 11 & 12 VICT. or effect, nor shall this Act or any part thereof be applied in either of the cases last aforesaid (m), except (n) for the purposes of such inquiry, further sanctioned. inquiry, report, or provisional order, without the previous authority of parliament; panies' be interfered consent. And no such provisional order, or any altered or Water comamended order, shall be made with respect to any Acts not to local Act of parliament under which any waterworks with, without company is empowered to construct waterworks or supply water for their own profit, without the consent of the waterworks company empowered by such local Act first had and obtained (o): Provided always, that, except for the purposes of Except for in s. 141 (p. 193) for the alteration and amendment of provisional orders from time to time, it seems well calculated to relieve the labours of parliament, and to save the expense necessarily incidental to the present mode of initiating, conducting, opposing, and passing local Acts. (m) That is to say, where new boundaries are adopted, or where the preliminary inquiry has been instituted without petition, or where there are no local Acts for any of the purposes enumerated at the commencement of this section (see ante, pp. 24, 25). (n) The words, "except for the purposes of such inquiry," &c., were added in committee in the House of Commons; but they are quite unnecessary, inasmuch as the Act, &c., is not 'applied" in the sense in which it is used in this and other sections until after the making of the provisional order, and the sanction thereof by parliament. (0) But by s. 75 (pp. 118, 119, 120), in case the waterworks companies are unwilling to supply water for the purposes of the Act upon terms to be settled either by the general board or by arbitration, the local boards of health constituted under the Act may erect waterworks themselves. the purpose PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 1848. of main sewerage, neither different corporate boroughs, nor corpo rate and non corporate parts are to be included within the main sewerage (p), no corporate borough or any part thereof shall be included in any district (q) not exclusively consisting of the whole or part of one such borough without the previous consent of the council under the common seal of the borough; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to require such consent to the constitution of a district exclusively consisting of the whole or part of one such borough for all or any of the purposes of this Act, nor to of the town hinder or prevent the application of all or any of the provisions of this Act to parts exclusively consisting of the whole or part of one such borough, although the same parts, or any of them, may have been already included within a district for the purposes of main sewerage (p): same district without consent councils and a petition from the rate parts. Provided also, that, except for the purposes of main non-corpo- sewerage, no parts beyond the boundaries of a corporate borough shall be included in any district comprising the whole or part of any such borough, except upon the petition of a majority of the owners of property and rate-payers who would be qualified (p) This exception is for the purpose of ensuring proper levels and outfalls for main lines of sewers (see 11 & 12 Vict. c. 112, s. 34), wherever it may be practicable to obtain them. The expression " main sewerage" was much insisted on; the word "main" was struck out by the House of Lords, but was restored by the Commons upon the consideration of the Lords' amendments. (q) The word "district" is used in a technical sense throughout the Act. It is defined by s. 2 (p. 9) to mean the entire area, places, or parts of places comprised within the limits of any district to which this Act, or any part thereof, is applied by order in council or provisional order of the general board of health. to vote in the election of members of a local board 11 & 12 VICT. c. 63, s. 10. of health for the parts proposed to be so included (r); but nothing herein contained shall be construed to require such petition in order to the constitution of a district exclusively consisting of parts not within the boundaries of any such borough, nor to hinder or prevent the application of all or any of the provisions of this Act to a district exclusively consisting of such last-mentioned parts, although the same parts, or any of them, may have been already included within a district for the purposes of main sewerage (s). (r) This qualification is regulated by s. 20 (pp. 47-50). (s) The several provisions of the Act with respect to the adoption of boundaries, when read in conjunction with these two provisos, are as follow: 1. The boundaries of the city, &c. or place in respect of which the preliminary inquiry has been instituted may be the boundaries of a district for all or any of the purposes of the Act. 2. For the purposes of main sewerage a district may be formed, so as either to include within it parts beyond the boundaries of the city, &c. or place in respect of which the preliminary inquiry has been instituted, or to exclude from it parts already within those boundaries. 3. A district may be formed, regardless of local boundaries, as in case 2, for all or any of the purposes of the Act; but before a provisional order can be made for including different corporate boroughs or parts of boroughs in the same district, otherwise than for the purpose of main sewerage (see case 2), the consent of the councils of the respective boroughs intended to be included must be obtained; and before a provisional order can be made for including corporate and non-corporate parts in the same district, it will be necessary to obtain the consent of the town council of the boroughs or parts of boroughs intended to be included, and the petition PUBLIC HEALTH ACT XI. And be it enacted, That from and after the 1848. making of any such order in council or the passing liminary in- of any Act of parliament confirming any provi Costs of pre quiry, &c., to be charged sional order of the general board of health, the upon the ge rates. neral district costs, charges, and expenses specially (s) incurred by or under the direction of the said general board, or of any superintending inspector, in relation to any inquiry or further inquiry as aforesaid, shall, to such extent and amount as the commissioners of Her Majesty's treasury by order under their hands may think proper to direct, become a charge upon the general district rates levied in such district under the authority of this Act (t), and be repaid to the said commissioners by annual instalments not exceeding five, together with interest after the yearly rate of five pounds in the hundred, to be computed from the date of any such last-mentioned order, upon so much of the principal sum due in respect of the said costs, charges, and expenses as shall from time to time remain unpaid (u). Constitution XII. And be it enacted (v), That in every dis of a majority in number of such of the owners of pro- (s) So in the ingrossment,-not" especially." (u) If a preliminary inquiry be made, and the Act be not afterwards applied, no costs will attach to the locality in respect of which the inquiry has been made. (v) The constitution of the local boards of health, as settled by this and the following clause, may be summed up thus: |