View report page

15
the land, they offered it at a price which they were advised was considerably
below its value, but the County Council considered two of the
plots unsuitable for the purpose; while, for the third plot, embracing an
area of about 18,500 square feet, for which the Commissioners asked the
reduced price of £7,500, they offered only £3,000, a sum so inadequate
that the Commissioners were compelled to decline it, having regard to
their position as trustees.
"The Commissioners, as you have already been informed, have
always kept in view the necessity of making due provision for the housing
of the labouring population. And the provision which they have already
made for re-housing the displaced tenants of cottages on their Southwark
estate was explained in my letter to you of the 28th May, 1892.
"The accommodation provided by Stanhope and Mowbray
Buildings was, as I then pointed out, in excess of the demand for such
accommodation arising out of any action of this Board in dealing with
their estate, and this excess still remains. The Commissioners have,
moreover, themselves made some limited prevision for workmen's
dwellings by the erection of cottages in Orange Street, which are let at
moderate rents, and they have now under consideration the advisability of
making some addition to their number as circumstances may permit.
"I am, dear Sir,
"Yours faithfully;
"A. DE BOCK PORTER.
"W. H. Atkins, Esq.,
"St. Saviour's District Board of Works.
Subsequently a deputation from the Sanitary Committee had
an interview with the Secretary to the Commissioners on another
subject, at which the correspondence was alluded to, and the
deputation was given to understand that the Commissioners were
not disposed to modify their offer in any way.
RAILWAY SCHEMES.
In December last notices were received from the South
Eastern Railway Company and the City & South London Railway
Company, of intended applications to Parliament for an extension
of the time, limited by their Acts of 1890, as extended by those
of 1893 respectively, for compulsory purchase of lands and
completion of works. The bills not containing any new provisions
affecting the district, but only such as already been sanctioned by
the Board, the Board resolved not to offer any opposition to the
applications.
COMBINED DRAINAGE.
The Board, as mentioned in the last Annual Report, page 19,
appointed Mr. Geo. J. Newton and its Surveyor (Mr. Norrish),
delegates, to attend a conference at the Holborn Town Hall,
Gray's Inn Road, on the subject of combined drainage; and, on