1211 
Building  Bye-Laws. 
of  stability  or  the  prevention  of  fire,  or  with  the  level,  witlth,  and  construction  of 
new  streets.  These  are  all  matters  that  may  properly  be  regulated  in  portions 
of  rural  districts  which  are  assuming  an  urban  character,  and  circumstances 
may  arise  which  may  render  it  necessary  to  deal  with  one  or  more  of  them  even 
in  less  closely  populated  areas.  Where  more  comprehensive  bye-laws  are 
considered  to  be  necessary  for  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  district,  the  Kural 
District  Council  may  be  referred  to  the  model  series  prepared  for  use  in  urban 
districts.  They  should  carefully  study  the  clauses  and  select  those  that  are 
appropriate  to  the  needs  of  the  district,  or  the  portion  of  it  under  consideration. 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a series  of  bye-laws  may  be  made 
for  part  only  of  a contributory  place  where  the  circumstances  justify  this 
course.  The  part  should,  however,  be  very  clearly  defined  by  a well-recognised 
boundary  line.” 
From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that,  if  owners  of  property 
think  any  existing  hye-laws  in  their  districts  are  oppressive, 
their  remedy  lies  with  the  District  Council,  who  should  he 
approached  with  a view  to  their  modification.  My  own  opinion 
is  that  in  districts,  or  parts  of  districts,  which  are  purely  rural, 
building  hye-laws  are  not  wanted  at  all,  as  anything  injurious 
to  health,  or  any  overcrowding,  can  be  remedied  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Public  Health  Act.  In  the  rural  district 
where  I reside,  there  is  only  one  populous  place  which  is  one 
of  the  suburbs  of  a town,  and  th&  C'ouncil  made  hye-laws  for 
that  part  of  the  district  only,  leaving  the  other  part  without. 
This  saves  a great  deal  of  trouble  and  .some  expense  in  getting 
out  plans  to  submit  for  the  approval  of  the  Council,  as  if  hye- 
laws  existed  plans  would  be  necessary,  even  for  so  small  a 
matter  as  a new  privy. 
On  the  other  hand,  a similar  district  in  another  ]>art  of 
the  county  has  bye-laws  which  extend  to  the  whole  of  the 
parishes,  and  these,  save  one  parish  of  an  urban  character, 
have  an  average  area  of  three  or  four  acres  per  head  of  the 
population,  while  owners  in  the  rural  parishes  have  to  comply 
with  the  same  requirements  as  are  deemed  necessary  for  the 
urban  district.  Those  intending  to  improve  their  cottage 
accommodation  are  thus  often  harassed,  particularly  when,  as 
it  sometimes  happens,  the  hye-laws  are  needlessly  stringent,  or 
are  harshly  applied. 
A case  in  jioint  has  recently  arisen  in  respect  of  a mis- 
understanding between  Sir  William  Grantham  and  the  (diailey 
Rural  District  Council  in  Sussex.  Sir  William  has  for  years 
past  taken  a great  interest  in  the  housing  question,  and  has 
erected  a good  many  model  cottages  on  his  estate  at  Barcombe  ; 
but  recently  the  Council  ordered  its  clerk  to  take  proceedings, 
on  the  ground  that  one  of  the  cottages  about  to  be  built  was 
not  in  accordance  with  the  new  bye-laws. 
VOL. 
K 
