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frontage, at an estimated cost (for building) of £29,020. Sanction of
the Local Government Board to borrow this sum was granted 27th
June. 1900. The acquisition of the site for this purpose has involved
the Council in discussion and correspondence since February, 1898.
The site, consisting of five narrow streets, forms one of the worst
areas in the Borough, and is held by the Trustees of the Rotherhithe
Charities. In May, 1899, the Council ultimately agreed to pay a
ground rent amounting to £243 10s. per annum for a 99 years' lease,
with one year's peppercorn and one year at half rent. When completed,
this will form one of the most beneficial of the Housing
Committee's schemes.
Slaughter-houses, Bakehouses and Common Lodging-houses.—These
are all regularly visited by the Inspectors of
Nuisances, as may be seen by the table at the end of this report.
Two new bakehouses were opened, one at Pond Road and another
at York Boad. One old bakehouse in High Street, Stratford, was
improved after sanitary notice, while another underground bakehouse
(No. 5, Prince Regent's Lane) which had been closed for several
months, was reopened. I thereupon reported it as unfit, on sanitary
grounds, for use as a bakehouse, and obtained its closure. The shop
attached is now used for other purposes.
The registered keepers of two Common Lodging-houses were
changed, after application to the Council.
Women Workers.—The following report, which I have
received from Miss Billing, your female Inspector of Nuisances, gives
a summary of her action during the year :—
The Workshops and Laundries in the district are in a satisfactory
condition. There has been a considerable increase in the number
inspected during the year, and a large percentage of the Nuisances
dealt with, were in connection with workrooms not previously
registered. The Laundries require frequent inspections to ensure
their being kept in order, owing to the work being done, in many
cases, in premises structurally unsuited for laundry work.