London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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St James's 1883

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St James's, Westminster]

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77
PARLIAMENTARY SCHEMES.—SESSION 1884.
The Schemes affecting this Parish were three in number, and
comprised the Mid-London Electric Railway, the Central London
Electric Railway, and an application by the Metropolitan Board of
Works for an extension of time for the purchase of property
required for the new street from Piccadily Circus to Oxford Street,
authorized by the Board's Act of 1877.
A similar scheme to that of the Mid-London Railway has been
opposed by the Vestry on several previous occasions, and the
Vestry saw no reason to regard the present proposal more favourably.
The proposal was to form a railway under the centre of
Oxford Street, with a station in this parish at Nag's Head Yarc;
and in view of obvious objections the Vestry dissented strongly
from the scheme. Active opposition was rendered unnecessary by
the abandonment of the project before the Bill reached the
Parliamentary stage.
By the London Central Electric Railway scheme it is proposed
to form a direct communication from Piccadilly Circus to the City
with a connection to the Electric Railway from Waterloo Station
already authorised by Parliament. The proposed railway would,
to a large extent, follow the line of the new street about to be
formed by the Metropolitan Board of Works, and as the construction
of the railway and the formation of the street might proceed
at the same time, no material disturbance to the business of th6
locality would be occasioned, while the cost to the ratepayers of the
new street might be materially reduced, as the Company require
for their own purposes much of the property acquired by the
Board for the new street. The Vestry, considering the advantages
to be derived, and the comparatively slight inconvenience which
would be caused by the construction of the railway, approved the
scheme, on condition that the position, plans, and elevation for the
station near the Circus are subject to their sanction.
The third Bill is being promoted by the Metropolitan Board of
Works, and the portion directly affecting this Parish is a proposal
to extend, until August 1886, the time for the compulsory purchase