compulsory acquisition of land. §§ 12-14. three calendar months after the date of the said order, or where confirmation of the said order is necessary, then after the date of the confirmation thereof the order so far as it relates to land in respect of which notice to treat has not been so served shall become null and void. Restriction of Allotment committees of urban authorities. (2.) Where an order has so become null and void as respects any land, no order authorising the compulsory. acquisition of that land or any part of such land shall, if made within three years after the expiration of the said three calendar months, be valid, unless confirmed by the Minister, or be so confirmed, unless it is proved to the satisfaction of the Minister that there are special reasons justifying the failure to exercise the powers under the original order and the making of the order submitted for confirmation.1 (1) This section is a protection to the owner of land against whom a compulsory order for acquisition of land has been made and confirmed (confirmation being necessary in all cases now,, If the notice to treat is served within three months the order will become null and void and no order for compulsory acquisition of the same land made within three years, unless confirmed by the Minister after proof of special reasons justifying the failure to exercise the power under the original order, will be valid. It would seem that this provision only extends to cases of land acquired for allotments, and not where the acquisition is for small holdings. 13. The obligation of a council of a borough or urban district under the Allotments Acts to provide allotments shall, if the population thereof is ten thousand or upwards, be limited to the provision of allotment gardens not exceeding twenty poles in extent.1 (1) As to the obligation of providing allotments imposed upon councils, see Act of 1908, s. 23, ante, p. 22. 14.-(1.) The council of every borough or urban district with a population of ten thousand or upwards shall, unless exempted by the Minister, after consultation with the Minister of Health, from the provisions of this section, establish an allotments committee, which may be an existing committee of the council or a sub-committee of an existing committee and all matters relating to the exercise and performance by the council of their powers and duties under the Allotments Acts as respects the provision of allotment gardens (except the power of raising a rate or borrowing money) shall stand referred to such committee, and the council before exercising any such powers shall, unless in their opinion the matter is urgent, receive and consider the report of the committee with respect to the matter in question, and the council may delegate to the committee, with or without restrictions, any of their said powers except as aforesaid.1 (2.) An allotments committee established under this section shall comprise persons, other than members of the council, being persons experienced in the management and cultivation of allotment gardens and representative of the interests of occupiers of allotment gardens in the borough or district, provided that the number of such representative members shall be [as near as may be]2 one-third of the total number of the members of the committee [and in no case shall the number of representative members be less than two].2 (3.) The accounts of any receipts or payments by or to a committee under powers delegated under this section. shall be accounts of the council and made up and audited. accordingly. (4.) In the case of a county borough, the council may appoint their small holdings committee, if constituted so as to comply with the provisions of this section, to be their allotment committee under this section. (1) It is to be noticed that the establishment of an allotments committee, unless exemption is obtained from the Minister, is imperative. It is provided by sect. 12 (1) of the Act of 1925 (post, p. 186) that this sub-section shall apply when the total number of allotments provided exceeds 400, although the popula $ 14. §§ 14-16. tion of the borough or urban district is less than 10,000. A similar obligation in respect of small holdings and allotments is imposed upon county councils by sect. 50 of the Act of 1908. (2) The words in square brackets were inserted in substitution for other words by the Allotments Act, 1925. Power for county councils to let land for allotments. Limitation on expendi ments and rents to be charged. 15. A county council may let land acquired or appropriated by the council for small holdings for cultivation as an allotment, or to a local authority or association, being an association to which land may be let by a council under the Small Holdings and Allotments Acts, 1908 to 1919, for the purpose of being sub-let for such use: Provided that this section shall not be deemed to authorise a council to let any land held by the council under a contract of tenancy or the use of any land so held in contravention of any term or condition of the contract.1 (1) See sect. 45 of the Act of 1908, which authorises the sale or letting of land acquired by a county council for small holdings to a borough, urban district or parish council for allotments. This section also gives power to let to an association for allotments land acquired for small holdings. As to what associations are authorised to become tenants of such land, see Act of 1926, s. 3, post, p. 192, which has taken the place of sect. 9, sub-sect. 2, of the Act of 1908. 16.-(1.) A council shall not take any proceedings ture on allot- under the provisions of the Allotments Acts relating to allotments, unless in the opinion of the council the expenses of the council incurred under those provisions (other than such expenses as are hereinafter specified) may reasonably be expected, after the proceedings are taken, to be defrayed out of the receipts of the council under those provisions.1 (2.) For the purposes of this section, expenses and receipts shall be calculated in such manner as the Minister of Health may direct, and shall include expenses and receipts in respect of land acquired whether before or after the passing of the Act: Provided that such expenses shall not include (c) sinking fund charges in respect of loans raised (3.) Land let by a council under the Allotments Acts for use as an allotment shall be let at the full fair rent for such use and not more than a quarter's rent (except where the yearly rent is twenty shillings or less) shall be required to be paid in advance.3 (1) This sub-section takes the place of sub-sect. 1 of sect. 27 of the Act of 1908, which is repealed. Under that section a council was debarred from acquiring land save at such price or rent as would enable their expenses to be recouped out of the rents of the allotments. It was therefore necessary for a council when acquiring fresh land to obtain sufficient rents to cover all the expenses in respect of such land, even if the council's existing allotments showed a profit. Now the whole of the council's allotments undertaking may be treated as one, and it is only required that as a whole it should be carried on on a selfsupporting basis. See now sect. 4 of the Act of 1925 (post, p. 183), which goes further and authorises a borough or urban district to take proceedings under the Allotments Acts if the expenses referred to in this section may reasonably be expected, after the proceedings are taken, to exceed the receipts of the council under these provisions by no greater amount than would be produced by a rate of 1d. in the £. (2) This sub-section provides that for the purposes of the limitation in expenditure laid down in sub-sect. 1, expenses of acquisition of land other than the purchase price or rent or compensation payable to outgoing tenants, expenses of road making, and sinking fund charges must not be taken into account. (3) Allotments must be let at the full fair rent for such use," which, it is submitted, means that its use for allotments must only be considered, not taking into account any value the land may have for building or industrial purposes. In the repealed sub-sect. 1 of sect. 27 of the Act of 1908, the land had § 16. §§ 16-18. to be let at reasonable rents "having regard to the agricultural Rating of allotments. Financial provisions. value of the land,” which might of course be less than its rental value for allotments, which are usually rented at a figure exceeding that for agricultural land forming part of a farm. 17. (1.) A council providing land for allotments whether under the Allotments Acts or otherwise may, by notice to the authority by which any rate is levied, require that the council shall be assessed to the rate as the occupiers of the land notwithstanding that the land or part thereof may be let, and in such case the council shall, for the purposes of any rate levied by that authority and made after the notice is given and before the notice. is withdrawn, be deemed to be the occupiers of the land.1 (2.) The foregoing sub-section shall apply to an association providing land for allotments in like manner as it applies to a council, if at the request of the association the authority by which a rate is levied agrees that it shall so apply.1 (1) Sub-sect. 1 is amended by sect. 11 of the Act of 1925, by making it apply to an approved society providing land for allotments in the same manner as it applies to a council. Subsect. 2 is repealed by the same Act. See also sect. 10 of the Act of 1925 as to the rating of new allotments (post, p. 185). Under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1923 (13 & 14 Geo. 5, c. 39), allotments being included in the definition of "agricultural land" in the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 16), are liable to pay one quarter only of any rate applicable to public local purposes payable in respect of buildings and other hereditaments. This is now carried out under the Rating and Valuation Act, 1925 (15 & 16 Geɔ. 5, c. 90), s. 22 and 2nd Sched., by providing that from the net annual value of agricultural land" seventy-five per cent. of the annual value is to be deducted for the purpose of arriving at the rateable value. 18.-(1.) The maximum period for the repayment of money borrowed by the council of a borough or urban district or parish under the Allotments Acts shall, where the purpose for which the money is borrowed is the purchase of lands for allotments, be eighty years, and the |