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79
COLLECTION OF HOUSE REFUSE.
The collection of house refuse is still carried out by contract.
The contract for the year 1906 instead of being let to two or
three contractors, as in previous years, was secured by one firm
for the whole of the district. There has been a still further
reduction of the cost of the collection for the year. For several
years prior to 1905 the cost of collection had been steadily
increasing, having reached as high as the yield of 3.92d. in the
pound of rateable value, but this was reduced to a sum equal to a
rate of 2.54d. for the year 1905 and of 2.09d. for this year.
During the year 1905 a lesser quantity of refuse to the
extent of 10,650 cubic yards was collected, and for the year
1906 a still further reduction of 9,723 cubic yards was made.
This reduction is due to a stricter adherence to the terms of
the contract, which provide exclusively for the removal of house
refuse. The annual saving of over £4,500 is to be ascribed very
largely to the contractor observing the distinction between
house and trade refuse.
The work generally has been discharged in a most satisfactory
manner, and, with the exception of a few disputes as to the
determination of what is and what is not trade refuse, very few
complaints have been received. The total number of complaints
is 220, representing 1.03 per cent, of the total number of houses.