With respect to the allottees of allotments on Westgate Moor, a special clause (see petition on January 23) is inserted. They are forbidden to put up any House, Building or Erection of any kind on one part for 20, on another for 40, on another for 60, years, unless the Duke consents, the object being ‘thereby the more advantageously to enable the said Duke, his Heirs and Assigns, to work his Colliery in and upon the same Moor.’
The award, with full particulars of allotments, etc., is to be drawn up and is to be ‘final, binding, and conclusive upon all Parties and Persons interested therein.’
If any person (being Guardian, etc., tenant in tail or for life of lessee, etc.) fails to accept and fence, then Commissioners can do it for him and charge; if he still refuses, Commissioners can lease allotment out and take rent till Expenses are paid.
Incroachments.—Incroachments 20 years old are to stand; those made within 20 years are to be treated as part of the Commons to be divided, but they are, if the Commissioners think it fit and convenient, to be allotted to the person in possession without considering the value of erections and improvements. Three contingencies for allotment to the person in possession are provided for;—(1) if he is entitled to an allotment, his incroachment is to be treated as part or the whole of his allotment;
(2) If his incroachment is of greater value than the allotment he is entitled to, then he is to pay whatever extra sum of money the Commissioners judge right;
(3) If he is not entitled to any allotment at all, then he has to pay the price set on his incroachment by the Commissioners.
If the Commissioners do not allot an incroachment to the person in possession, they may sell it at public auction and apply the money to the purposes of the Act, or they may allot it to someone not in possession, in which case a ‘reasonable’ sum of money is to be given to the dispossessed owner, the new allottee paying the whole or part of it.
The above provisions apply to the ordinary incroachers; the Duke has special arrangements. If he has made any new incroachments during the last 20 years in addition to any older incroachments, these new incroachments are to be valued by the Commissioners, and the Duke is to have them either as part of his allotment or for a money payment, as he chooses; also ‘whereas the Tenants of the said Duke of Leeds of the Collieries on the said Commons and Waste Lands ... have from Time to Time erected Fire Engines, Messuages, Dwelling Houses, Cottages and other Buildings upon the said Commons and Waste Lands, and made several other Conveniences thereon for the Use and Accommodation of the said Collieries, and the Persons managing and working the same, a great Part of which have been erected and made within the last Twenty Years, these are not to be treated like other incroachments, but are to ‘be and continue the absolute Property of the said Duke of Leeds, his Heirs and Assigns, in as full and ample Manner’ as if the erections had been made more than 20 years before.
Fencing.—All allotments are to be fenced at the expense of their several proprietors ‘in such Manner, Shares and Proportions as the said Commissioners shall ... direct’ with the following exceptions—(1) the Vicar’s allotment for small Tithes is to be fenced by the other proprietors; (2) the allotments to Hospitals, Schools, and other public Charities are to have a certain proportion deducted from them to cover the cost of fencing. Allottees who refuse to fence can be summoned before a J.P. by their neighbours, and the J.P. (who is not to be interested in the Enclosure) can make an order compelling them to fence.
To protect the new hedges, it is ordered that no sheep or lambs are to be turned out in any allotment for 7 years, unless the allottee makes special provision to protect his neighbour’s young quickset, and no beasts, cattle or horses are to be turned into any roads or lanes where there is a new-growing fence.