United Kingdom House of Lords Decisions

The Town Council of the Burgh of Denny and Dunipace (commonly described as Denny) promoted this Order, the purpose of which was to obtain a further water supply. This it was proposed to obtain by appropriating as a reservoir Loch Coulter in the Denny Hills, and leading into it the water of a new catchment area which had previously reached the outflow of the loch lower down. Loch Coulter had for long beyond the prescriptive period been used as a service reservoir by mill-owners and a valuable fish hatchery (Howieton), and it was alleged to contain water of a purity which necessitated no filtration for domestic use. The works contemplated the raising of the level of the loch with two draw-off pipes, the upper in charge of the mill-owners, &c., and the lower in charge, under conditions, of Denny. Loch Coulter was not within the catchment area of the existing water scheme of Denny, but was in close proximity (five miles) to the burgh.

The Order was opposed (1) by the Falkirk and Larbert Water Trustees, and (2) by the County Council of Stirlingshire and its Central and its Eastern District Committees, while it was watched (3) on behalf of the owners of the mills and fish hatchery. The opposition was based on the ground that the district would be, better served by a combined (amalgamated) scheme, there being at least five authorities getting water from the same district, and indirectly on the ground that Denny's requirement was not pressing, and was more than met by the offers of a temporary supply made under conditions by the objectors and to be obtained from their existing systems.

After some days' inquiry parties came to an agreement whereby the promoters were to obtain a supply of water on terms for some years, and subsequently on the payment of a capital sum a supply of water of a limited amount for ever; and the only question remaining was that of expenses.

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That was ultimately settled on the basis that the objectors paid the expenses not only of the promotion of the Order, but of what was incidental thereto, such as the engineers' inquiry, &c.