HONGKONG.
No. 24
1907
Petition from Land Owners with regard to Compensation under Section 185 of the Fublic Health and Buildings Bill 1902.
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government.
HONGKONG, December 3rd, 1902.
SIR,-I beg to enclose a communication relative to the Public Health and Buildings Bill now before the Council for transmission to His Excellency the Governor,
To Honourable F. H. MAY, C.M.G.
Colonial Secretary.
I have, etc.,
A. SHELTON HOOPER.
HONGKONG, December 3rd, 1902.
To
His Excellency Sir HENRY ARTHUR BLAKE, G.C.M.G.,
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
Governor of Hongkong.
1. The European landowners of this Colony, who submitted a petition to Your Excellency dated the 28th September, 1902, regarding The Public Health and Buildings Bill, recognise how loyally the principle of compensation has been adopted in the recent amendments. thereto. But they venture respectfully to ask Your Excellency's further consideration of one instance in which compensation is still, as they consider, improperly withheld.
2. Section 185 of the Bill, in limiting the height of new buildings, applies the restric- tion (in subsection 3) without compensation to the case of re-erecting an existing building which exceeds the limited height. Your petitioners understand that the framers of the Bill rely on the Glasgow Building Act 1900 as their precedent herein, which, if it be so, can only proceed from a misreading of that Act.