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102
Sanitary Conveniences for Women.—On 11th October, 1011, your Council
resolved—that an instruction be given to the Council's Women Sanitary
Inspectors to inspect in future the conveniences in St. Pancras for women.
These conveniences for women are situated at the southern end of Pancras
Road near King's Cross, at the eastern end of Park Street adjoining Camden
High Street, at the southern end of Fortess Road at its junction with
Kentish Town Road, at the centre of Queen's Crescent adjoining Maiden
Road, and at the western end of Mansfield Road near its junction with
Fleet Road. There is one free W.C. in each of the womens' conveniences.
Drainage By-laws.— Attention has previously been called to the decision of
the Divisional Court in Kershaw v. Brooks (7 L.G.R. 578, 1909) by way of
special case from the decision of a Metropolitan Police Magistrate dismissing
certain summonses issued by the Hampstead Borough Council —(1) under the
plan By-laws, and (2) under the drainage By-laws made by the London County
Council.
The question for decision was as to who was the proper person to be brought
before the Magistrate for infringement of these by-laws. The Council
summoned the responsible person actually carrying out the work, and the
summonses were dismissed by the Magistrate on the ground that they should
have been issued against the person who ordered the work to be done. The
Divisional Court sustained the decision of the Magistrate, with the result that
the hitherto invariable practice of proceeding against the responsible person
who actually carried out the works would be no longer open to the Borough
Councils, but enquiries would have to be entered upon as to who was responsible
for the work being done, i.e., who had given the order.
Previous to Kershaw v. Brooks, it was the practice of this Authority to proceed
against the builder as the responsible person for an infringement of the
Bye-laws in question, and your Public Health Committee were strongly of
opinion that the duty of complying with the By-laws in regard to the deposit
of plans and the giving of notice should be placed upon the person executing
the work.
In view of the difficulty thus encountered, representations were made to
t he London County Council, in which your Council joined, with the result that
new By-laws were made in July last, and approved by the Local Government
Board on the 4th August, 1911.
The new By-laws are set out in Part VI. Legislation. § 4. By-laws.
Combined Drainage. —A new and rather striking decision on combined
drainage was given last year by the Divisional Court in the case of the House
Property and Investment Company v. Grice, (1911), 9 L.G.R. 758.
This case formed the subject of a detailed report from the Chief Clerk,
which appears in the Council's Minutes of the 20th March, 1912. It carries
the decisions much further than any hitherto reported, and should be of much
service to local authorities, as it appears to be the first case in which an
"order" by a local authority has been proved without a plan. It should be
of material assistance in St. Pancras as there are many applications in the
books of the Works Department to drain houses by combination with no
plans attached.