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SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Water Supply.
Every house in Camberwell is provided with a water supply
direct from the mains of the Metropolitan Water Board and no
complaints were received during the year concerning its purity.
The water from the seven wells in operation in the Borough
is used for industrial purposes only.
London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1955.
This Act contains provisions which enable the Council to
deal more expeditiously with obstructed or defective drains
(Section 25), premises without water supply (Section 26) and
the remedying of defects in dwelling houses (Section 27).
Briefly, this legislation authorises the service of notices
and the execution by the local authority of works in default in
cases of urgency much more quickly than is permissible under
the Public Health (London) Act, 1936. It does not, however,
supersede the provisions of the latter Act and can only be used
in cases of such urgency that the Council could, if necessary,
justify their action if it were challenged in legal proceedings.
This new procedure has proved to be most useful and during
the year under review, 11 notices were served under Section 25(1),
three under Section 25(2), one under Section 26 and 11 under
Section 27. In 12 instances it was necessary for the Council to
execute the works in default and take steps to recover the cost
from the owners of the properties.
Caravans on bombed sites.
Complaints were received from local residents of a nuisance
from six caravans and their occupants on some land at the corner
of Elmington Road and Lomond Grove. The site was kept under
observation but no public health nuisance nor any contravention
of the byelaws relating to movable dwellings could be discovered.
Letters were sent to persons believed to be the owners of parts
of the site drawing attention to their responsibilities under the
byelaws if the caravans remained on the land. As a result, all
the caravans were removed, but two of them established themselves
on another bombed site in Southampton Way. Although
no complaints were received concerning these two vehicles
efforts were made to trace the owners of the land in order that
pressure might similarly be brought to bear to secure their