View report page

91
are used as the receptacle for the refuse of not only this, but other
districts, is at times a source of considerable nuisance, and,
unfortunately, the Greenwich Council themselves are by no means
the least offenders in this respect.
Combined Drainage. The following is a resume of the
Conference between Representatives of the Metropolitan Borough
Councils and the Right Hon. Walter H. Long, President of the
Local Government Board, upon the vexed question of Private
Drain or Public Sewer, which Conference was attended by
Representatives of this Council.
The Conference was introduced by Sir Albert Rollit, who
opened the matter generally, and stated that the whole question
was in reference to a conundrum, namely, " What is a sewer and
what is a drain ? " He stated that the whole of the Metropolitan
Boroughs were affected very materially by this matter, and
Representatives from twenty-one of such Boroughs were taking
part in the Conference.
The magnitude of the question was indicated when it was
said that a charge of not less than £30,000 a year falls upon
Local Authorities in London, which morally should be borne by
the owners of individual properties themselves. Several Metropolitan
Boroughs were specially mentioned, the charge in
Islington itself amounts to some £5,000 a year, which amount is
gradually increasing ; this amount being at the rate of nearly fd.
in the pound. In Battersea, the charge was stated to amount to
a ½d. rate, being at the rate of £2,000 per annum.
Several plans and long descriptions of property and their
drainage systems were given, to enable the President of the Local
Government Board, and his advisers who were present at the