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repair of drains constructed upon the combined system frequently
arises where notices have been served upon owners of property for
their repair or reconstruction. Most of the drains in Hackney are
constructed upon the combined system. Where evidence is produceable
that any particular combined drain has received the
consent of the Vestry for its construction there is no difficulty in
fixing the responsibility for its repair upon the owner; but in some
cases this evidence is incomplete or wanting altogether. Under these
circumstances the responsibility for the maintenance of the drain falls
upon the Vestry. Such a state of the law is very unsatisfactory; for
it was never intended that private house drains should be maintained
out of the public purse.
The following judgement given by a magistrate at the North
London Police Court during the past year, in a case of combined
drainage, where the owner who had been summoned by the Vestry
had refused to repair a defective drain upon his premises, on the
ground that it was repairable by the Vestry illustrates both the law
and the attitude of the legal mind towards this subject.
HACKNEY VESTRY
v.
Messrs. CHESTON & CHESTON.
North London Police Court,
December 2nd, 1898.
JUDGMENT.
Mr. Edward Snow Fordham (the presiding Magistrate) said:—
"This was a summons taken out for an order against the Defendants to
abate a nuisance arising from a defective conduit at No. 71, Amherst Park.
The Defendants, whilst admitting the ownership of No. 71, Amherst Park,
and the existence of the nuisance, contended that they were not liable to
abate it, as the conduit in which it arose was a sewer repairable by the
Vestry, and not a drain repairable by the owner. It was proved that the
order was made by the Vestry for draining a block of four houses, of which
No. 71, Amherst Park, was one, by a combined operation under Section 47
of the Metropolis Management Act of 1855, upon application, supported by
a plan showing the system of drainage. It was also proved that the system