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this letter it appeared that the Organisation wished to alter bye.
law (2), which relates to the re.drainage of existing premises, in
such a way as to provide that two days' notice of intention to begin
drainage work should be accepted in lieu of the fifteen days' notice
now required; and also that the deposit of plans relating to drains
or pipes above ground should not be required. This letter was
referred to the Public Health Committee, who reported on the
matter to the Council. The following is an extract from this
report:—
The present bye.law provides that at least 15 days before
drainage work is begun, plans and written descriptions of the
work shall be deposited with the Sanitary Authority. But it is
also provided that in cases of urgency the work can be begun at
once if an urgency notice is sent to the Sanitary Authority.
This is clearly set out in Bye.law 3, which is in the following
terms:—
ALTERATIONS OF DRAINS IN CASES OF URGENCY.
(1) "In any case in which an alteration of the drains must
be carried out at once, every person who is about to carry out
such alteration shall, in lieu of depositing the plans, sections, and
particulars referred to in these bye.laws, forthwith send to the
Sanitary Authority of the district a notice in writing of any such
proposed alteration."
(2) "He shall also within two weeks of the commencement
of such alteration make the deposits required by these bye.laws."
It would obviously be contrary to the interests of the public
health to delay important sanitary work (such for instance as
the repair of a defective drain running under a house, and of
a defective internal soil.pipe which is freely discharging foul
air into a house) for 15 days. In urgent cases it is of great
importance that the work should be begun, not after two days
notice, as is suggested by the Middle Classes Defence Organisation,
but at once. Under the existing bye.law this can be done,
and as a matter of fact most of the redrainage work in Hamp.
stead is carried out immediately after an urgency notice has
been filled in. In 1906, out of 578 cases where plans were
deposited, 389 were cases where the work was done at once