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82
In order that members of the Council may be fully
informed as to this important matter, we have directed
that the report of the Housing of the Working Classes
Committee be printed and a copy sent to every member.
Tt will be observed that the report first refers to the
fact that the representation under part I. of the Housing
of the Working Classes Act, 1890, was made by the
Medical Officer of Health more than nine years ago,
when it was stated that "nothing short of clearing the
area and rebuilding the houses would be effectual."
Inasmuch as the Officers of the County Council
confirmed this view as to dealing with the area, in our
opinion it is most unsatisfactory that the area has been
permitted to remain in so insanitary a condition for a
lengthy period, except in so far as from time to time the
Borough Council has been able within its limited powers
to remedy the evils by means of closing orders. Such
closing orders have generally resulted in the carrying
out of merely superficial repairs by the owners of the
property, with the inevitable consequence that the houses
were soon afterwards found to have deteriorated into their
former faulty and unsatisfactory condition without any
prospect of permanent improvement.
In this connection we notice that the County Council
admits that the Borough Council cannot be charged with
having taken no action at all under Part II. of the Act, and
further that any drastic action on its part is for the time
being naturally arrested. The County Council suggest
a comparision between the property in the Brady Street
area and that in the notorious Tabard Street area, which
is now being dealt with by means of an improvement
scheme under Part I. of the Housing Acts of 1890. It is
further acknowledged that many of the houses in the
Brady Street area are in as hopelessly bad and decayed