756 



Small Holdings Act. 



[march, 



The Acts require that a register showing particulars of the tenancy, acreage and 

 rent of every allotment, whether let or unlet, shall be kept by the Parish Council, and 

 the register is to be open to inspection by any ratepayer without the payment of a fee. 



If a Parish Council are of opinion that the acquisition of land for common pasture 

 is desirable, and that land for this purpose can be obtained at such a price that any 

 outlay on its acquisition will be recouped out of the charges to be paid in respect 

 thereof, they may submit to the County Council a scheme for the provision of such 

 common pasture, and the County Council may authorise the Parish Council to acquire 

 the land in the same manner as if it were being acquired for allotments. 



The Acts also give power to a Parish Council to acquire land for the purpose of 

 providing grazing rights to be attached to allotments provided by the Council. 



The provisions of the Acts have been extended to allotments of which the manage- 

 ment is transferred to Parish Councils under the Local Government Act, 1894, e.g., 

 those set out under Inclosure Acts, and these allotments can be improved, let and 

 managed by the Council in the same manner as allotments acquired under the Allot- 

 ments Acts. 



The powers and duties of Rural District Councils in relation to allotments are 

 transferred to the Parish Councils, and any allotments which may have been provided 

 by Rural District Councils are to be handed over to the Parish Council of the Parish 

 in respect of which they were provided. The date on which the transfer of these 

 allotments will take effect will be fixed by the Local Government Board. 



The Board are constituted the central authority under the Acts, except as regards 

 questions of finance, which remain under the jurisdiction of the Local Government 

 Board. 



Separate accounts of receipts and expenditure under the Allotments Acts are to 

 be kept by Parish Councils. 



In rural parishes where there is no Parish Council the Parish Meeting is 

 substituted for the Parish Council in the construction of the Allotments Acts, and in 

 such parishes the powers given by those Acts to Parish Councils may be exercised 

 through a committee appointed under section 19 (3) of the Local Government 

 Act, 1894. Any land acquired for Allotments in such parishes will be vested in the 

 Chairman of the Parish Meeting and the overseers of the parish. 



As regards existing allotments in any such parish have which have been set out 

 under Inclosure Acts or otherwise, attention is drawn to sub-section (1) of section 23 

 of the new Act under which the Parish Meeting have to appoint persons to take 

 over the management of allotments. 



The above summary is not intended to be a complete statement of the law on 

 the subject, but the Board think that it may be of service to your Council in their 

 consideration of the steps to be taken to administer the Allotments Acts in their parish. 



The Board think that your Council should undertake some enquiry, either 

 informally through individual members of the Council, or by a Parish Meeting 

 or otherwise, with a view of ascertaining whether there is any unsatisfied demand for 

 allotments in your parish, and they suggest that public notice might be given 

 inviting those who desire to obtain allotments to send an application in writing to 

 you, stating the quantity of land desired. Any applications for land exceeding five 

 acres should be forwarded to the County Council to be dealt with by them under 

 the Small Holdings Acts, but the Parish Council can themselves deal with any 

 application for an allotment not exceeding five acres. There is, however, no statutory 

 duty imposed on Parish Councils to provide holdings over one acre, and if, therefore, 

 the Parish Council, in any particular case do not see their way to deal with an 

 application for a holding between one and five acres, it should be forwarded to the 

 County Council. 



On the receipt of any applications for allotments, the Board suggest that your 

 Council should make inquiries from the local landowners with a view of ascer- 

 taining whether they would be willing to let land for the purpose direct to the 

 applicants, or if they would prefer to sell or let land for the purpose to the 



