Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

15 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

-----Mr. o. Isgoed Jones v.…

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Mr. o. Isgoed Jones v. Llaarwst Urban Council. IMPORTANT LITIGATION IN LONDON. THE PLAINTIFF GIVES EVIDENCE. A FORMER MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL. Mr. Justice Parker, in the Chancery Di- vision, continued, on Thursday, the hearing of the action of Isgoed Jones v. the Llan. rwst Urban District Council, by vhicll the plaintiff as owner of sought to restrain an ailed nuisance by the defend- ants, caused by the discharge of crude sew- age into the river Conway at a point ad- jacent to his property. Mr. Mark Romer, K.C., and Mr. Hewitt (instructed by Messrs. Chamberlain and Idhnson) again appeared for the plaintiff, 2!1!d Mr. Macmorran, K.C., and Mr. Tomlins (instructed by Messrs. Porter, Amphlettand Jones, Llanrwst) for the defendant Council. After some duscussion as to the state- ment of claim, amended to meet the ob- jedtion that the land adjoining the river was let at a yearly tenancy, and nnt in the occupation of plaintiff, his Lordship said that he would proceed with the hearing to the conclusion of the plaintiff's case, and then he would determine whether or not it was necessary to adjourn the case to enable the defendants to consider the altered posi- tion. iNO COMPLAINT BEFORE FEBRUARY. Mr. Owen Isgoed Jones, the plaintiff, call- ed in support of his said said that he was tenant of the property he now owned from iSqS, and purchased it in January, iooq. The sewage was a great nuisance to his property, and was, in his opinion, getting worse. He was desirous of developing his land as a building estate, and this nuisance prevented him from doing so. The smell from the banks was ver-* unpleasant, and on hot davs it wis worse others. When the wind was in the south In could smell it at his house. Cross-examined He was a member of the local sanitary authority in 1800, and knew from the beginning that these sewers were constructed to emotv into the river. Notwithstanding minutes which counsel rea-d in which plaintiff's name appeared, he sa. he did not think he took any part in the construction of the sewers from 18qI. He had never complained to the local sani- tary authority with regard to the nuisance. tn. July and August, ICOq, he was in cor- respondence with the Council through his solicitor, with reference to alleged arrears due in respect of the sewer easement, but throughout the correspondence there was no mention of any nuisance. He did not think that there had been any considerable in- crease in the population of Llanrwst, but ipattld not say definitely because there had been no census since 1891. Witness was not aware that the Earl of Ancaster claimed the whole of the bed of the river, though he knew that in some parts the Farl claim- ed on both sides. He knew that Lord Ancaster issued permits to fish. but he ■would not allow anyone to fish from his property without his permission. Counsel might take :t that he adopted the descrip- tion of the condition of the river given bv the previous witness. He had sold part of his land with a light to lay drains into the sewer. f*e -examined He had not complained to the District Council of the nuisance before FeBruarv this vear, because he did not wish to give a publicity to it which he thought might iniure the district. Since he pur- chased the pronerty he had given persons licence to fish from his bank. Evidence was given bv Mr. Thompson, ^naTvtical chemist, who spoke to visiting the river Conwav in Tune last, when he founrl it in a filthy condition. Witness said that the samnles he took indicated n'at the bed of the river was in a foul condition. Mr. T .nmax. civil engineer, of Westmin- ster and Manchester, said in his ooinion had the sewers been properly made a great deal more of the sewage would have been car- ried awav than was the case now. but he thought that sewage ought never to be dis- charged without, at all events, first being screened. He saw a lot of offensive matter on the plaintiff's land, whir-h would not have found its way there if screening had been resorted to. Mr. Tohn Merry Porter, estate agent prac- tising in Colwvn Rav. gave evidence as to the property being desirable as a building proT>ertv. The further hearing was adjourned. FRIDAY'S EVIDENCE. The hearing was resumed on Friday. Br. Porter, further cross-examined, said that though he did not test it he was sure tSe heap under sewer No. 2 was sewage. It waa not gravel washed down from the roads, though there were no large pieces in it. He not think that the rubbish he found along the banks was more consistent with a rubbish heap than a sewer. He saw rub. bish there, but not a haap. A considerable uart of the plaintiff's property was liable to flooding, but he did not think it possible that it could be flooded up to within 20 vards of the roadway. There was a rubbish heap in the neighbourhood of plaintiff's house. He was told that the house drained into the neighbourhood of the rubbish heap, but there was nothing there to indicate that that was so. He would not say that the population was not decreasing, but could not say that it was. The demand for build- -iag land was to some extent dependent upon tlie population. He had not made any in- Ifnfrieg to ascertain whether there was a for building land in the neighbour- Sjood, but he knew that there was he was building there himself. It might be that 4s houses had been built there during the last 20 years. Mr. Charles Allard, solicitor, of Llanrwst, am1 clerk to the magistrates, was called to pfove the tide charts. Mr. Thomas Booth Farrlngton, civil en- gineer, of Llandudno and Manchester, who ■fio was for 20 years borough engineer of Conway, said that he had had considerable «xperietiee of both tides and sewage works. Be had seen the plaintiff's property, and kad found there a state of things which he shOttld consider a nuisance. What he found life should say be a deterrent to any intending purchaser. The average rise of tide at Conway was 16 feet, and a 21 Met rlscwould be a high soring tide. A '•'tfi~feet rise would not, in his opinion, affect Alt. anv way the pool by the sewers. The bridge and embankment at the mouth of the River Conway would, of course, affect the flow, but It would not cause the tide to reach a point which it would not otherwise reacli Cross-examined Witness said he thought a rise of 2.1 feet at Conway might cause a «sfc in the pool. The tide might rise 2<5 fe«fc at th*» mouth, but that would be two leg below Conway. There never had been a 25 feet rise at Conway, and he hoped tfiere never would be for the sake of the town. In his opinion the narrowing of the entrance of the river would not cause the tide to flow to a point higher than it other- *$se would flow. He did not admit that *&e' tide might be higher with a westerly wfcd than it would be with an easterly. The course of the Conway was for the most part from north to south, and he failed to s«e how a wind blowing across it could the tide, though he admitted that the wind always had some effect. Counsel asked whether the witness did not' know that the railway company ran special trains to Blackpool when the wind was In the west, because of the high tides. Sir. Romer, K.C. (plaintiffs' counsel) ask. ed what had Blackpool to do with it. Black- pool was a long way off. Further cross-examined, witness said that on one occasion had he seen water flowing under the pipes. Re-examined, witness said that a. 19-toot tide at Conway would not affect the plain- tiff's pool to any extent, and a 16-foot tide would, not reach it at all. This concluded the plaintiffs' case. THE DEFENCE. Mr. Hewitt was proceeding to sum up when; at the suggestion of his Lordship, the evidence for the defence was called. Mr. Evans, civil engineer^ proved plans he had made of the defendants' sewers. This witness put the height of the >rdin.iry spring tides at the mouth oi the Conway Orine's Head—at 25 feet. He examined the plaintiffs' property, and found no back- wash or stagnant pool in the river. So far as he could observe the water flowed down- wards across the whole width of the river. The further hearing was adjourned urtil Monday. On Monday Mr. Sidney Richard Le Rock, M.Inst.C.E., spoke to a visit he nade to the place in question in September last. He looked, lie said, carefully for any .gns of sewage pollution, but could find none. He stirred the banks in the neighbourhood, and noticed no objectionable smell. From what he saw there was no nuisance at < II, and he should say there was not likely to be z ny. Cross-examined He had advised the authorities with reference to tneir sewage works, and if Llanrwst was making i(-. sew- age works for the first time he would ad- vise th,e system they. now had. lie had never advised the turning of crude sewage into a stream. The water of the was, of coarse, polluted to a certain ex-;nt, but there was no pollution to speak :> Mr. John Duncan Watson, M.I.C.E., who said he had had a large experience of StW- age works for over thirty years, ."ave it as his opinion that, li-ving regard to the quantity of sewage to be dealt with and the volume of water in the river, the method adopted by the defendants was the best one. He was distinctly of opinion; having regard to all the circumstances, that it was much better Than erecting a purifying plant, from which there would be some smell. lie saw nothing on the banks or on the bed r. the river to indicate sewage pollution in fact, he saw nothing offensive at all. Mr. Clarke, F.I.C., gave an analysis of samples taken from the river Conway and from the sewage outfalls, which he .-aid showed that the pollution of the ri'er v as very slight. Mr. J. II. Johnson, M.Sc., gave evidence as to analysing samples of the River Con- I way taken in May last. They showed that although the water did contain organic mat- ter, it was not in excessive quantities. The quantity of sewage was below the avrace. The further hearing was adjourned. On Tuesday. nr. Thresh-, further examined, said that the number of bacillus coli found in the sewage at The outfall showed that it had been diluted by about 1,000. Cross examined, he said that all questions of sewage must to a great extent depend upon local conditions. T he analysis of bacillus coli put to him would show that there was a greater proportion of sewage in the pool that ran alongside the plaintiff's property than there was in other parts of the river. Dr. George Lewis Travis, medical officer of health for the district in which the sewers were situated, said that he had never had any complaint in respect of them. Since the com- mencement of the acti( n he had carefully examined the river and the sewer outfalls. The sewage was rapidly carried away, and ten yards below was good drinking water. He had examined the bed of gravel by the plain- tiffs' property and found no trace of sewage either on the bank or in the pools. He saw no heap of sewage under outfall No. 2 in fact he saw no deposit of sewage at all. Cross examined, his samples were taken at the end of the flood. He had to wait until the river went down in order to take them. His reason for taking them after a flood, instead of a drought, was that he wanted to get them as early as possible. He went for the express purpose of finding traces of sewage if he could, but found none. He knew of no com- plaints by water bailiffs as to damage to fish life caused by these sewers. 11r. K. ArtfiUi P. ichard, J.P., of Conway, one of the cons-ervators of the River Conway, spoke to nevfr having received any complaint with ref renre to 1hp sewer outfall. He visited the spot in September last and saw the sewage dis- charge. It dispersed within a few yards. He examined the banks, but found no sign of sewage or sewage fungus. He found nothing that was a nuisance to either sight or smell, and certainly nothing that was injurious to health. j TI Cross-examined, he thought the local autho- rity could prevent the discharge of Sewage into the river, but after hearing the evidence in this case he did not think it was necessary. Mr. Wynne, Inspector of Nuisances and Sur- veyor of Llanrwst, gave evidence as to the sanitary arrangements, and stated that during the twelve years he had been inspec'or he had never had any complaint with regard to the sewers in question. He had put cork floats into the river for the purpose of testing the direction of the flow, and had never known any of them come back on to the plaintiff's bank. The hearing was adjourned

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