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41
Insanitary Dwellings.
In July I reported as to the insanitary condition of Stroud's
Cottages, Western Road. These three cottages were not
connected to the sewer, and in my opinion they constituted a
nuisance dangerous to health. Notice was served, and the
necessary work has been done.
In November I had a formal complaint, as to a nuisance
arising from the cesspools of a row of cottages situate at
Buckingham Terrace, Top Lock, Havelock Road.
As regards drainage, I found them in a very insanitary
state indeed ; notice was served on the owners, and the necessary
work to abate the nuisance carried out. Until the main sewer
is extended to this part of the district, no radical alteration in the
drainage of these cottages can be made, and until such are
carried out the nuisance is one which is liable to recur.
Alleged Nuisance from Brickfields.
In February, complaints were made as to a nuisance alleged
to be caused from the breeze used in the brickfield adjoining
Tudor Road, Uxbridge Road. The complainants were owners of
property in Tudor Road, and they stated that the smell from the
breeze had been very bad indeed, and that eight of the tenants of
the nine occupied houses in Tudor Road had made complaints.
At the time of my visit there was an objectionable smell in the
immediate neighbourhood of the breeze; but it was not of
sufficient intensity, or carried sufficiently far, in my opinion, to
constitute a nuisance. There was about half an acre of ground,
covered with breeze to a depth of one-and-a-half to two feet. The
owner of the brickfield said the breeze was the cleanest and best
screened which could be obtained, and that it had been ' rotting '
for a month before being taken to the brickfield.
This breeze is made up of ashes from dust bins, and contains
small quantities of animal and vegetable matter in a state of fine
division ; it is from the decomposition of these substances that
objectionable smell arises.
In my opinion, nuisance was likely to recur when fresh breeze
was deposited. I indicated to the Council the lines of action ; by
Section 112 (Public Health Act 1875), the consent of the Urban
Sanitary Authority must be obtained before establishing certain
scheduled businesses or any other offensive trades. In Section 114,
under which the Court may impose penalties where Tiny business
process, or manufacture causing effluvia is carried on, unless it is
proved that the best practicable means to obviate nuisance have
been employed. It would appear that under this Section the use
of 'coke' breeze, which is free from any animal or vegetable
matter could be insisted upon. Negotiations with the owner of