July 1, 1901.1
Officer of Health and myself visited one of these houses lately, and we came to the conclu- sion that to make a back lane would be prohibitive on account of the expense, and that the only way to proceed would be, to erect a skylight in the roof. It has since been suggested to me that this proposal had better he embodied in the recommendation of the sub. committee looking into these affairs, and therefore I withdraw my motion.
THE HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS-ME. MAY'S
SPEECH.
The Vice-President, pursuant to notice, moved→
"That the Board urge tho Government to insert in the new Building Ordinance or other- wise enact without undue delay the following provisions:-
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"(1) No building shall exceed in height 1 times the width of the street upon which it frouts, as measured from the outer edge of the foot-path on one side to the outer edge of the foot-path on the opposite side where such footpath exists. The width of any street which is not provided with a foot-path shall be the shortest distance measured between the main walls of the buildings on the opposite sides thereof, or the building line as determined by the Director of Public Works where there is no building opposite.
(2.) No verandah shall be erected in any street of a less width than fifty feet nor in any street which is not provided with a foot-path of the width of 10 feet on that side of the street on which it is proposed to erect such verandah.
"(3.) No balcony shall be erected in any street of a less width than 30 feet, nor in any street which is not provided with a foot-path of a width of four feet six inches on that side of the street on which it is proposed to erect such balcony."
OHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
fo
owners
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Queen's Road, the width of which only, not one year or two years, but fifty sixty, and a measures thirty feet, is flanked on each hundred years. This colony of Hongkong Is side, as it will be unless measures are taken only a young colony, but it is going to grow to stop it, with houses seventy-six feet in height, into a very important colony and become one of and furnished with verandahs throughout, the biggest trading centres in the British I should like to know how much sun-Empire. It is our duty to see that the colony light will ever reach the ground floors-perhaps is not hampered in that growth with a millstone even the second floors-of ench houses. The tied round its neck in the shape of an insanitary object of sections 1 and 2 of my resolution city built in defiance of all sanitary principles (which I should like to make one, if the Board accepted in other parts of the world. will permit me) is that Qreen's Road, for the The PRESIDENT, in seconding Mr. May's purpose of the first paragraph of section 1, motion, said the Vice-President had made a should be regarded as a streat of thirty feet, very able speech on the subject, and there was and not as a street of fifty feet. The result of practically nothing to add to it. He only this would be that the houses would be limited wished to make one remark-he had some- a height of forty-five feet-just about times wondered why the Board allowed such the height of the present three-storeyed recommendations to go forward from it. buildings. I maintain such houses would be The latest proposal permitted houses to quite high enough for that street, seeing that if be erected to a height equal to one and a there are verandahs on both sides, to make them half times the width of the street, and, as the any higher would be an insanitary thing to do. Vice-President said, that enabled the houses in Let me give one other example ander the existing Queen's Road to be built to a height of sevenly. A lane which is one inch over fifteen feet five feet. The only benefit that accrued law.
be flanked on both sides by from the recent legislation was in the case of in width can houses forty feet in height. This thing will narrow streets. Over in Kowloon practically go on, too, unless some one steps in and every road was fifty feet in width; some were
ask stops it.
I again
you, how much sixty and some even seventy-five feet in width. sunlight will entrate to the houses in Under these circumstance the recommendation these lanes, when they ise to that height of the Board that houses should be restricted Since this resolution was circulated to you I to one and half times the width of the street have amended sub-sections 3 and 4 the object had practically no effect. Under former legis- being to further restrict verandahs and balconies lation the height was seventy-six feet, and when and to give more ventilation and more air to it came to building to a height of seventy-five domestic dwellings. The provisions contained feet, owners of properties might as well in my resolution, if giren the force of law, be allowed to go an extra foot. The sooner would undoubedly excite great opposition, the proposed restrictions were adopted the and
of properties would cry out sooner would real progress be made in the healthier for compensat on. Now, sir, on that point direction of making Victoria a I would like to say this: If a man, say in city. Queen's Road, has erected already a house! Dr. CLARK said he thought they were all in fifty-five feet in height, and you step in and favour of the resolution. There was only one say "For every house coming down you' point in Mr. May's speech he wished to comment In making the motion Mr. MAY said-Sir, shall not erect another in its place of a greater upon, and that was that gentleman's regret t will be within the recollection of the height then forty-five feet," then I say, sir, in that the Board had acceded to the recom Board that in connection with the Insanitary my opinion such a man would have an equitable mendation in the bill of 1899 governing the Properties Bill, which became law in 1899, claim for compensation, and he ought to get it. height of buildings. If memory served, the it was recommended that the height of all But if a man has a house not over forty-five feet Board was practically forced into it. The buildings to be in future erected should not high, you simply make a law to say-" When bill was hung up for eighteen months, and exceed one and a half times the width you erect other houses you shall not exceed was sent back again and again, finally to of the street on which they front. That forty-five feet." I cannot see that that man, appear in the form they were discussing. recommendation, as was to be expected, called either in law or equity, has any claim to com- The Government had asked the Board to forth a good deal of opposition from persons in- pensation. I do not want to take from any prove by statistics that if they reduced the terested in house property, with the result that man what is legally or justly his, but the view height of buildings they would check disease, in the Ordinance as finally passed the provision I take appears to me to be a common-sense but that was a question regarding which was only made to apply to houses erected on land way of looking at it. I shall only say it was safe to assume there could be little doubt. purchased or acquired from the Crown after this in addition to what I have already Perhaps Mr. May would add something to that the passing of the Ordinance. To this con. said in support of my resolution - I am'effect in his resolution ? cession the Board agreed, and in doing that, as perfectly convinced that this question of limit- ¡. I have said before, and now say again-the|ing the height of buildings-limiting them fur- Board was very wrong. I myself have regretted ther thau the existing law demands, is one which my acquiescence in that concession more than must be tackled sooner or later. You cannot always anything I have regretted for the last oight allow houses to be erected in this colony to the or nine years. On 5th February a sub-com- height to which they can be erected under the mittee of this Board which was appointed existing law. If you do, you are defying one If to draw up a scheme of sanitary improvements of the first principles of sanitation.
Mr. OSBORNE-What Dr. Clark has said for the City of Victoria repeated the same you overcrowd and surface crowd the city it recommendations, and in support of the pro- cannot and will not be healthyto the inhabi- is perfectly true. The Sanitary Board, after Now, sir, I this bill had been read once în Council and position to restrict the height of buildings I tants, and they must suffer. shall quote from the report drawn up by that venturo to predict that if the colonists in shelved for about two years, by dint of pegging sub-committee.
this colony do not arise to a sense of the away at the Government, got the bill at last, situation and prevent the houses in Queen's in a mangled form. I remember distinctly it Road and elsewhere from being built to those was remarked that it was better to accept the ridiculous heights, they will most assuredly bill, mangled though it was, than to go on as regret it, for the day is surely coming when we were going’and allow such buildings to be all these houses will be raised to seventy-run up.
Mr. MAY said, in regard to the bill being six feet in height, everyone of them. I say, that before many years they will all be hung up, that there was a change of Governors The colonists will at the time, and it was hardly to be expected then have to take them dowu, and they will that the new Governor was going to take on find that it will be a question not of days, but of years, and that compensation will have to be paid for every house in Queen's Road from one I have used the term end to the other. colonists, and by that I mean every person living in the colony, whether official or unofficial. It is one of the watchwords of wise statesmen not to legislate ahead of public opinion, and if that is true of any form of legislation, it is pre- minently true of legislation in sanitary matters. No Government was over willing to enact drastic sanitary legislation unless backed by a considerable share of public opinion. I say
Mr. MAY here read a few extracts dealing with the density of the population and the increasing of the death-rate.
Continuing, he said-It has been proved in England that whereas the death-rate of rural England is only 16 per 1,000, the death-rate of urban England is 22 per 1,000. Now, I believe this matter of restricting the height of build-erected to that height. ings is under the consideration of the Govern- ment, but attention has been drawn, since the sub-committee submitted its report on 5th February, to the great obstruction caused by verandahs and balconies. As the result of this, I have come to the conclusion-and I hope the Board will agree with me-that to restrict houses to one and a half times the width of the street on which they front is not sufficienty I base my arguments on the example affor ded by the street nearest to us-Queen's Road. That street is called a fifty-foot street, and under the existing law houses can be erected in that street to a height of seventy-six feet. Now the actual roadway in Queen's Road only measures thirty feet across, ten feet on each side being taken up by footpaths which are covered over by verandahs. I ask any man' of common-sense to contemplate the con- dition of this city when a street like
Do Government is willing, and very few Governments attempt it, unless so backed. I speak from my knowledge of sanitary legislation, and that is why I use the word colonists. I appeal to all men who will sit down quietly and look a few years ahead--
Mr. MAY--No.
Dr. CLARK, continuing, said-On behalf of the Government, I went carefully into the sick returns of the Tung Wah Hospital for last year, and I showed to the satisfaction of the Government that the great bulk of sick people come from houses in narrow lanes and a small percentage from houses in wide streets.
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bill like that the first week of his arrival. Further, it was not fair to characterise the bill as mangled; they get what they asked for except in relation to the height of buildings.
After a short discussion as to the law at home governing the height of buildings, during which Dr. CLARK remarked that it was only recently that London had passed bye-laws restricting the height to the width of the street, and that many provincial towns, Liverpool excepted, allowed one and a half times, Mr. May's motion was put to the meeting and carried unanimously, TORPEDO WORKSHOPS ON THE KOWLOON PENINSULA.
Correspondence was submitted relative to the sale of a portion of the Kowloon Penthau's for the erection of new torpedo-workshopë, 'ete" The correspondence had relation to the follow- ing letter, dated 2nd May, from Commodore