The district board were empowered under legislation to pull down any houses where the builder has neglected to give notice of his intention to build seven days before proceeding to lay or dig the foundation. However the court held that this did not allow the council to pull the house down without first allowing the party guilty of the omission to be heard.
Willes J: “A tribunal which is by law invested with power to affect the property of one of Her Majesty's subjects, is bound to give such subject an opportunity of being heard before it proceeds: and that that rule is of universal application, and founded upon the plainest principles of justice.”
