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Section III
THE SANITARY CONDITION OF THE PARISH.
There has been a steady and continuous improvement in the
sanitary condition of the parish during the past nine years The
tabular statements prepared by the Sanitary Inspectors show that in
the home district 1,470 separate premises were inspected by them during
1899, of which number 891 were house-to-house inspections carried out
in those parts of the district where the lower wage-earning classes
reside. In Kensal Town, where, since February, 1899, Mr. Metzler
has been carrying out the duties of Sanitary Inspector in succession to
Mr. Mackay, 640 premises have been inspected, the greater number of
these being house-to-house inspections.
It has only been necessary to take proceedings in a few instances
(see appended statement), to enforce the due carrying out of the
Vestry's notices; and I am glad to be able to report that each year
less difficulty is encountered in the carrying out of works of necessary
sanitation. There appears to be greater willingness on the part of
property owners to recognise their responsibilities in these directions,
and the high rents now almost universally obtainable for working class
accommodation, not only render improved sanitation possible, but also
make it remunerative.
In some of the more central parts of the home district, the leases
of many of the houses will expire within the course of a few years.
The Public Health Committee of the Vestry has been, and is at
present, engaged in considering the aspects of this question in so far
as it relates to the housing or re-housing of the working class population
that will be displaced. In the meantime, the structural conditions
of many of the older houses are not very satisfactory, and it is found
that constantly recurring inspections are necessary to maintain these
premises in anything like a satisfactory condition of tenantable repair.
In the early part of the year, 1899, under the direction of the
Public Health Committee, notices under the Lodging House Regulations,
made under the Sanitary Act of 1866, were served upon the owners of
numerous houses in certain of the poorest streets in the more crowded
central and western parts of the home district, such houses having been
previously registered with the Vestry prior to my accession to office in
1891. The Vestry having recorded its opinion that it was inadvisable
in carrying out these regulations to make distinctions between the
different classes of houses let in lodgings, or occupied by members of
more than one family, the Public Health Committee again took the
matter into consideration, with the result that it resolved to restrict the
application of the regulations to such houses as appeared upon my
recommendation to the Committee to be in need of regulation for
various sanitary or other reasons.
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