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1923 the London County Council decided to seek powers to extend to the
whole of the County the provisions relating to combined drains similar
to those contained in Section 21 of the Woolwich Borough Council Act,
1905, but the clause which was inserted in the County Council's General
Powers Bill of 1924 was opposed by the Property Owners' Protection
Association, Limited, and was ultimately struck out by the Local Legislation
Committee of the House of Commons.
In 1926 the Hackney Borough Council secured the passing of an
Act dealing with the subject; and at its meeting on the 19th July, 1927,
the County Council resolved that legislation be promoted in the session
of Parliament, 1928, applying, with any necessary modifications, to the
administrative county of London, the provisions of sub-sections 2 and 3
of section 53 of the Hackney Borough Council Act, 1926, dealing with
combined drains. These sub-sections are as follows:—
2. For the purposes of the Acts mentioned in sub-section (1) of this
section [i.e., the Metropolis Management Act, 1855, the Metropolis Management
(Amendment) Act, 1862, and any Act amending or extending those
Acts], a drain within the borough for draining any group or block of houses
by a combined operation shall not become or be deemed to have become a
sewer or cease or be deemed to have ceased to be a drain within the meaning
of the definition contained in section 250 of the Metropolis Management Act,
1855, by reason of the fact that the drainage of premises not included in the
order relating to such combined operation has been connected with such
drain either before or after the passing of this Act, and any such additional
drainage shall be deemed to have been included in such order: Provided
that nothing in this sub-section shall empower the Council to authorise the
connection of or themselves to connect any sewer to any such drain.
3. Nothing in this section shall enable the Council to recover the expense
of any drainage or other works incurred prior to the passing of this Act by
the Council or their predecessors from the owner of any premises in connection
with which the said works shall have been carried out.
It is to be hoped that, in fairness to the ratepayers, if for no other
reason, this limited effort to obtain some measure of equity will prove
successful.
Dog Nuisance.
In 1925 an attempt was made to mitigate the nuisance from the
fouling of public footways by dogs. Notices were issued inviting the
co-operation of the public, and for a time an improvement was noticeable.
Subsequently, it was thought desirable to obtain sanction for a