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43
laws of the Metropolitan Board of Works it is laid down that no
house can be erected upon any made ground until any animal matter
or refuse, which may have been deposited upon the "Site," shall
have been properly removed by excavation, or otherwise, from such
"Site;" and also that the foundation of the walls shall be formed of
a bed of good concrete nine inches thick.
At first glance, this seems quite to meet the case; but, unfortunately,
the Metropolis Management and Building Acts Amendment Act, 1878,
under which these bye-laws are made, defines in section 14—
"The term 'Site,' in relation to a house, building, or other erection,
shall mean the whole space to be occupied by such house, building, or
other erection between the level of the bottom of the foundation, and
the level of the base of the walls.
''The term 'foundations' shall mean the space immediately beneath
the footings of a wall."
By section 3 of the Metropolitan Building Act, 1855, "the base
of the wall" means the course immediately above the footings.
Mr. Glen has been consulted upon this point; he thinks that the
Metropolitan Board of Works have power, under their bye-laws, not
only with respect to the mode in which the "Site" is to be excavated,
but also, generally, with respect to such "sites," and also with
reference to the foundations of buildings, particularly with respect to
the mode in which they are to be made and prepared for securing
stability and for purposes of health. The term "foundation" is
not limited to any particular depth, and Mr. Glen considers that the
Board can require the foundations to be excavated to as low a depth
as that occupied by any material impregnated with animal matter,
which may lie above the virgin soil.
But a good deal hinges upon the meaning of the word "Site."
The intention of the bye-laws is clearly to require the whole of the
impregnated material, above the virgin soil, to be removed before a
house is erected upon the site, but it is doubtful whether the meaning
of the word is to be strictly limited to the definition in the Statute, or
whether the natural and ordinary meaning of the word is to be taken.
Should Mr. Chambers determine to proceed, the matter will probably
become the ground of an action at law; and should the decision be still
adverse to us, we shall have power, when the houses are finished, to
have them closed as unfit for human habitation, under the 13th section
of the Nuisance Removal Act.