improvement request

The Sheffield Improvement Act 1818 (58 Geo. 3. c. liv) was a local act of Parliament passed in 1818, regarding the administration of the town of Sheffield in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Before 1818, the town was run by a mixture of bodies. The Sheffield Town Trust held responsibility for the repair of Lady's Bridge, Barkers Pool and various highways, and had traditionally contributed to general improvements to the town. The Church Burgesses also had the right to improve streets and bridges in the area of the church. By the nineteenth century, both organisations lacked the funds to construct significant improvements, and struggled to maintain existing infrastructure.
The Church Burgesses organised a public meeting on 27 May 1805 and proposed to apply to Parliament for an act to pave, light and clean the city's streets. The Town Trust's weak financial position was not public knowledge, and many at the meeting believed that it would be able to achieve these objectives, without the need for a new body which would have to levy rates. The proposal was defeated.
The idea of a commission was revived in 1810, and later in the decade Sheffield finally followed the model adopted by several other towns in petitioning for an act to establish an improvement commission. This was rewarded with the 1818 act, which established the commission and included a number of other provisions.

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