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5
Two of the Orders in regard to Holland Ward were confirmed by the
Minister with no opposition from residents, but in the case of the Order
covering the western portion of the Holland Ward, objections were lodged by
a few householders. The Minister, in accordance with the provisions of the
Clean Air Act, held a public Local Inquiry at the Town Hall on 7th March, 1960,
and, at the time of writing, the result of the Inquiry is awaited.
It is gratifying to record this so far almost negligible opposition
to the Council's action and policy, which appears to indicate that the public
generally are prepared to co-operate in eliminating the pollution of the
atmosphere by the smoke from household fires and furnaces.
Food Hygiene. The work of enforcing the requirements of the Food
Hygiene Regulations was continued throughout the year. Food traders and the
public are generally striving to maintain a high hygienic standard in connection
with the storage, preparation and sale of food. The willingness of most
people to co-operate in the task of ensuring clean food becomes more evident
as time goes on. Unfortunately, the need for periodical inspections is still
an urgent one, as is indicated by the number of informal notices served
(46 in 1959) by the public health inspectors for various contraventions of the
Hygiene Regulations and the greater need to take Court proceedings against
wilful offenders.
General. The work of dealing with slum clearance, the repair of
houses, food hygiene in shops, Clean Air Act and Smoke Control Orders, is placing
a heavy burden on the staff of the Department, especially the public health
inspectors.
For the past few years it has not been possible to recruit the
reqquired number of public health inspectors for Kensington and this position is
common throughout the Metropolitan area. This persistent shortage of
inspectors could have an adverse effect on the work of health departments. To
overcome this, the Council have agreed to permit the existing inspectors to use
their own cars on official work on a "casual-user" basis, and have also increased
the staff by the appointment of unqualified assistants to help the inspectors.
The Council's scheme for training students as public health inspectors
was augmented by the appointment of a third student during the year. These men
are giving increasingly valuable assistance to the inspectorial staff, whilst
undergoing training. In fact, owing to pressure of work, one student, in his
final year, was detailed to work on a district, under the supervision of one of
the senior public health inspectors.
VITAL STATISTICS
The table set out on the next two pages gives the important
vital statistics for 1959, together with comparative figures for the previous
seven years.