Metropolis Management Act 1855

Duties and Powers of Metropolitan Board of Works

CXXXV Main Sewers vested in the Metropolitan Board of Works and Power to such Board to make Sewers.

The Sewers mentioned in Schedule (D.) to this Act, being the Main Sewers now vested in the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London and in the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers respectively, with the Walls, Defences, Banks, Outlets, Sluices, Flaps, Penstocks, Gullies, Grates, Works, and Things thereunto belonging, and the Materials thereof, with all Rights of Way and Passage used and enjoyed by such Commissioners respectively over and to such Sewers, Works, and Things, and all other Rights concerning or incident to such Sewers, Works, and Things, shall be vested in the Metropolitan Board of Works, and such Board shall make such Sewers and Works as they may think necessary for preventing all or any Part of the Sewage within the Metropolis from flowing or passing into the River Thames in or near the Metropolis, and shall cause such Sewers and Works to be completed on or before, the Thirty-first Day of December One thousand eight hundred and sixty, and shall also make all such other Sewers and Works, and such Diversions or Alterations of any existing Sewers or Works vested in them under this Act, as they may from Time to Time think necessary for the effectual Sewerage and Drainage of the Metropolis, and shall discontinue, close up, or destroy such Sewers for the Time being vested in them under this Act, as they may deem unnecessary, and such Board shall from Time to Time repair and maintain the Sewers so vested in them, or such of them as may not be discontinued, closed up, or destroyed as aforesaid; and for the Purposes aforesaid such Board shall have full Power and Authority to carry any such Sewers or Works through, across, or under any Turnpike Road, or any Street or Place laid out as or intended for a Street, as well beyond as within the Limits of the Metropolis, or through or under any Cellar or Vault under the Carriageway or Pavement of any Street, and into, through, or under any Lands, whatsoever within or beyond the said Limits, making Compensation for any Damage done thereby as herein-after provided, and all Sewers and Works from Time to Time made by the said Board shall vest in them; and the said Board shall cause the Sewers vested in them to be constructed, covered, and kept so as not to be a Nuisance or injurious to Health, and to be properly cleared, cleansed, and emptied, and for the Purpose of clearing, cleansing, and emptying the same they may construct and place, either above or under Ground, such Reservoirs, Sluices, Engines, and other Works as may be necessary, and may cause the Sewage and Refuse from such Sewers to be sold or disposed of as they may see fit, but so as not to create a Nuisance, and the Money arising thereby shall be applied towards defraying the Expenses of such Board.

CXXXVI Before Works for intercepting the Sewage are commenced, Plans, &c. to be submitted to Commissioners of Works.

Before the Metropolitan Board of Works commence any Sewers and Works for preventing the Sewage from passing into the Thames as aforesaid, the Plan of the intended Sewers and Works for the Purpose aforesaid, together with an Estimate of the Cost of carrying the same into execution, shall be submitted by such Board to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings; and no such Plan shall be carried into effect until the same has been approved by such Commissioners.

CXXXVII Metropolitan Board may declare Sewers to be Main Sewers, and take under their Jurisdiction Sewerage Matters under Jurisdiction of Vestries and District Boards.

In case it appear to the Metropolitan Board of Works that any Sewers in the Metropolis not herein-before vested in such Board ought to be considered Main Sewers, and to be under their Management, it shall be lawful for such Board, by an Order under their Seal, to declare the same to be Main Sewers, and thereupon the same shall vest in and be under the Management of the said Board; and it shall also be lawful for the said Board by any such Order to take under their Jurisdiction and Authority any other Matters in relation to Sewerage and to Drainage with respect to which Jurisdiction or Authority is by this Act vested in any Vestry or District Board.

CXXXVIII Metropolitan Board to make Orders for controlling Vestries and District Boards in Construction of Sewers, &c.

The Metropolitan Board of Works shall from Time to Time, in order to secure the efficient Maintenance of the main and general Sewerage of the Metropolis, make such General or Special Order as to them may seem proper for the Guidance, Direction, and Control of the Vestries of Parishes and District Boards in the Levels, Construction, Alteration, and Maintenance and cleansing of Sewers in their respective Parishes or Districts, and for securing the proper Connexion and Intercommunication of the Sewers of the several Parishes and Districts and their Communications with the Main Sewers vested in the said Metropolitan Board, and generally for the Guidance, Direction, and Control of Vestries and District Boards in the Exercise of their Powers and Duties in relation to Sewerage; and all such Orders shall be binding upon such Vestries and Boards.

CXXXIX Metropolitan Board may direct Appointments to be made for Two Parishes or Districts jointly.

The Metropolitan Board of Works, where it appears to them expedient that any Officer or Set of Officers necessary for any of the Purposes of this Act should act for a larger Area than is comprised in One Parish or District, or for Parts of different Parishes or Districts, may, with the Consent of the Vestries or Boards of such Parishes or Districts, direct that such Vestries or Boards shall unite in the Appointment and Removal of such Officer or Set of Officers; and the said Metropolitan Board shall in such Case direct the Mode in which the respective Bodies or Committees thereof shall act together for the Purposes of every such Appointment and Removal, and the Proportions in which the Salary or Salaries of such Officer or Officers shall be borne and paid by every such Parish and District respectively.

CXL Or may place a Street in different Parishes under the Management of One Vestry, or Part of a Parish under the Management of Vestry of adjoining Parish.

It shall be lawful for the Metropolitan Board of Works, where it appears to them that any Street or Line of Street, being in more than One Parish or District, should be placed under the exclusive Management of One Vestry or District Board for the Purposes of paving, lighting, watering, and cleansing, or any of them, or for the Purposes of Sewerage and Drainage, or for all the Purposes of this Act, to order that the same shall be under the Management of such Vestry or Board accordingly; and it shall also be lawful for the said Metropolitan Board, where it appears to them that any Part of any Parish or District is so detached or situate that it would be convenient for the Purposes of Sewerage or Drainage that the same should be placed under the Management of the Vestry or District Board of any adjoining Parish or District, to order that such Part shall, for such Purposes, be under the Management of such Vestry or District Board.

CXLI Metropolitan Board to regulate naming of Street and numbering of Houses.

It shall be lawful for the Metropolitan Board of Works from Time to Time to cause to be painted or affixed on a conspicuous Part of some House or Building at or near each End, Corner, or Entrance of every Street in the Metropolis the Name of such Street, and the Board may, where more than One Street in the Metropolis is called by the same Name, alter the Name of any or all such Streets, except One, to any other Name which to such Board may seem fit, and which may be approved by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings ; and before any Name is given to any new Street Notice of the intended Name shall be "given to the said Board, and if there be any Street in the Metropolis called or about to be called by the same Name, the said Board may, by Notice in Writing stating that there is already a Street in the Metropolis called or about to be called by the same Name, and describing the Locality thereof, given to the Person by whom Notice of such intended Name was given to them, at any Time within Fourteen Days after Receipt of such last-mentioned Notice, object to such intended Name; and it shall not be lawful to set up any Name to any new Street in the Metropolis until the Expiration of Fourteen Days after Notice thereof has been given as aforesaid to the said Board, or to set up any Name objected to as aforesaid; and the Owners or Occupiers of Houses and Buildings in the several Streets in the Metropolis shall mark such Houses or Buildings with such Numbers or Names, for the Purpose of distinguishing the same, as the said Board may direct or approve, and shall renew the Numbers or Names of such Houses or Buildings as often as they are obliterated or defaced ; and if any Occupier of any such House or Building neglect for One Week after Notice from the said Board to mark such House or Building with such Number or Name as the said Board may direct or approve, or to renew the, Number or Name thereof as aforesaid, he shall be liable to a Penalty of not exceeding Forty Shillings, and the said Board may cause such Number or Name to be so marked or renewed, and recover the Expense thereof from the Owner of such House or Building in manner hereinafter provided; and if any Person wilfully or maliciously destroy, pull down, obliterate, or deface the Name of any Street in the Metropolis, or the Name or Number of any House or Building in any such Street, or paint, affix, or set up any Name to any Street, or any Name or Number to any House or Building, contrary to this Enactment, he shall for every such Offence forfeit a Sum not exceeding Forty Shillings; and it shall be lawful for the said Board to cause such Name or Number so painted, affixed, or set up contrary to their Directions to be obliterated or destroyed.

CXLII Register to be kept of Alterations in Names of Street.

The said Metropolitan Board shall keep a Register of all Alterations made by them in the Names of Streets, and such Register shall be kept in such Form as to show the Date of every such Alteration, and the Name of the Street previous to such Alteration as well as the new Name thereof.

CXLIII Buildings not to be brought beyond Line of Street.

No Building shall, without the Consent in Writing of the Metropolitan Board of Works, be erected beyond the regular Line of Buildings in the Street in which the same is situate, in case the Distance of such Line of Buildings from the Highway do not exceed Thirty Feet, or within Thirty Feet of the Highway where the Distance of the Line of Buildings therefrom amounts to or exceeds Thirty Feet, notwithstanding there being Gardens or vacant Spaces between the Line of Buildings and the Highway ; and in case any Building be erected contrary to this Enactment, it shall be lawful for the Vestry or District Board in whose Parish or District such Building is situate to cause the same to be demolished or set back (as the Case may require), and to recover the Expenses incurred by them from the Owner of the Premises in manner provided by this Act.

CXLIV Power to Metropolitan Board to make Improvements.

The Metropolitan Board of Works shall have Power to make, widen, or improve any Streets, Roads, or Ways, for facilitating the Passage and Traffic between different Parts of the Metropolis, or to contribute and join with any Persons in any such Improvements as aforesaid, and to take, by Agreement or by Gift, any Land, Rights in Land, or Property, for the Purposes aforesaid (or otherwise) for the Improvement of the Metropolis, on such Terms and Conditions as they may think fit; and such Board, where it appears to them that further Powers are required for the Purpose of any Work for the Improvement of the Metropolis or public Benefit of the Inhabitants thereof, may make Applications to Parliament for that Purpose, and the Expenses of such Application may be defrayed as other Expenses of the said Board: Provided always, that before the Metropolitan Board of Works commence any such Works the estimated Expense whereof shall exceed Fifty thousand Pounds the Plan of such Works, together with an Estimate of the Cost of carrying the same into execution, shall be submitted by such Board to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings; and no such Plan shall be carried into effect until the same has been approved by such Commissioners ; and no such Works shall be commenced in Cases where the estimated Expense thereof shall exceed the Sum of One hundred thousand Pounds without the previous Sanction of Parliament.