The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-05-30 00:00:00

Belle Vue Reuse,

Stoutlnidge, May 18th, 1874.

Dear Sir,—l am in receipt of your letter of the 16th
Mat, offering the same quantity of laud as Mr. Brooks,
o, less, at is ad per yard. In the conversation I had with
you on Monday acternoon last you quoted Is per yard for
a large quantity ot your land, and for small nits prices
ranging as hi,.;n as 2s fol per yard, so that you were not
Mimed to one acre, as stated In your note. I Informed
you that I expected the 6ctioul &mud would, at its meet-
ing on luesuay, positively decide upon the site fur the
schools ; therelore, if you intended to offer such a piece
of laud as the Board might require at the price of Is Oil
per yard. There is a; doubt Brat was the proper time to
do so. I feel sure that you cannot, Under Me circum-
stances, reasonably complaiii of having been unfairly
treated. The Board has, 101 you are aware, hod consid-
erable difficull in obtaining a suitable site, owing to the
opposition mut drawbacks IL has met withal almost every
point of its attempted pi ogress, and I do not think any
member of it would be desirous to reopeu toe question;
nevortheiess, I soda lay your led I. before the tioard at
its next meeting.
lull are in h"or in stating that I yroposed a larger
quantity at the same price. On the contrary, I moved
at exceeding an acre of Mr. Brooks's land should be
purchased, and the Board 'hiding that the field which
au not think is more than oue-andfialf-acre could be
bought for the same price as was required for the acre,
acted. I think wisely, in adopting Mr. Ifillugham's
amendment. the site chosen is, in my opinion, all
things considered, the best to suit the requirements of
the Department and the convenience of the inhabitants
of the township, and these, you will allow, are conditions
it became the out; of Boarda specially to fulfil. The In'
spectur, in his report, recommended that entirely new
buildings should be erected on one of the two eligible
sites that had been offered, so that the term ••
did not apply to yours mil), In his communication with
with me, the Inspector spoke highly in favour of Mr.
Sr oks's land, particularly referring to its warm elm;.
lion, and the ready and level access LO IL tor young chil-
dren. WILLI regard to tile drainage, I are so difficulty in
the way of its being dealt with effeccivally. Neither
hove any donut about the foundations being goad at a
very moderate depth, nor do I apprehend that the rate-
payers will be put to any more expense with this site than
would have been incurred elsewhere.

You may, of course, if you thick proper send a copy
your letter of the ltnu just, to the Lentral lios,d, as
JOA iutimate you will do so ; but, ILI the eveut of your
tastug taut step 1 would suggest that you also crud a
compete copy of this reply, becallse difereuces may be
drill,,, from your letter, not exactly In accordance with
the a:tual circutustsuceK of the case.

I remain, -
boars faithfully,
(s.l) J. llcEwitu.
Love Lane, Stourbridge.
After the letters had been read, Messrs. Scott
and Prescott rose to address the 'sooting.
Mr. Prescott sJid he Wil6 In possession of the

Mr. Seott said he only rose to suggest that
before they debated the question before theta
they should have the opportunity of asking one
or two questions of the Clerk of the Board, or
of Mr. Smith.

Mr. Prescott: I cannot allow this to go on,
Mr. Chairman, I am in possession of the chair.
The Chairman asked Mr. Scott to allow Mr.
Prescott to ask what questions he had to put.
Mr. Prescott remarked that he had asked for
the letters to be read so that he might comment
upon them. lie was now upon the second mat-
ter upon the agenda paper; the report of the
General Purposes Committee, on the purchase
of Mr. Brooks's land. That involved him read-
ing the resolution passed for the purpose. (He
then read the resolution). lie said there were
directions given to the Clerk to enter into nego.
tiatious for that piece of land withont any reser-
cation as to rights, and now from what he found
un the draft of purchase, it appeared they would
not be able to erect any building within 20 feet
of any window overlooking the boundary. That
was a special reservation of considerable impor-
tance of which they had not had the slightest
hint given before. Under all the circumstances,
he thought it would be most unjust if some fur-
ther consideration was not given to Mr.
Hughes's land, which would be sold at £240 less
than the other.

The Chairman said it was the duty of the
Board to get a piece of land offering fair advan-
tages to the ratepayers. Now there was one pre-
sented to them which was in every way eligible,
and which they had decided to accept, he, for
one, was not going to re.open the question of
which was the most suitable to the ratepayers
according to situation. But he should ask the
architect if it would be necessary to go down 14
feet before they could get at the level.
Mr. Smith had been inspecting that site, and he
would now ask him if there was any portion of
that laud four feet below the level of the road.

Mr. Suleiman Smith said he had not taken
levels but the hind towards Mr. Brooks's gar-
den fell considerably, and it would be four feet
altogether. . .

MI Prescott: Do you think it will go down
ten feet.

Mr. Smith: I find against Hill-street there
will be about six feet. There are two feet at the
lower end, whim it falls considerably.
The Chairman said they could understand
that the depth below Hill street would be four
feet by six feet. That would average six feet
six inches. The Chairman afterwards corrected
himself by saying it would be five feet six
inches.

Prescott said he would not quibble about
...id only repeat what he had
• Hanbury Hill) was
-gild be sold
-utions