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55
the Council had not received a free gift of the land (a 999 years lease at one
shilling per year), and also a gift of a capital sum, the expenditure to be
borne by the ratepayers would have amounted to £606,600 for 604
dwellings, or more than an average £1,000 per dwelling.
The work of remedying the insanitary conditions resulting from the
flood, providing information for the proper distribution of the Mayor's
Relief Fund and the surveys necessary for the submission of evidence in
the Improvement Bill were a dominant issue in the department throughout
the year. The administration of relief for loss or damage to household
effets and for damage to houses was closely bound up with the work of
surveying insanitary conditions, and the staff of the department, although
all were working overtime and sacrificing week-end leisure, had to be
temporarily increased to deal with the emergency. Three additional
sanitary inspectors and a clerk were engaged for some months. As this
work concerned the department so closely a brief account is included as
an appendix to this report.
The preparation of evidence for the Millbank Improvement Bill also
occupied the greater part of the year and extended into 1929. The
evidence consists of a Proof of Evidence, being an account of the historical
and general characteristics of the Millbank Estate, the condition of
premises previous to the flood and the eSects of the flood on premises,
particularly dwelling-houses, a discussion as to the best methods of
dealing with the area and an outline of the proposals contained in the
Bill. Four appendices were submitted: (1) a complete statement of the
occupation of all the premises in the area, supplying names of tenants,
subtenants, &c., number of rooms occupied, rents, number of families
(adults and children), trade or calling of each head of household and a
sanitary report on such premises; (2) a plan on ordnance scale showing
types of premises differently coloured, e.g., working-class dwellings, shops,
&c.; (i) statistical tables relating to persons and premises; and (4) a
book of photographs indicating the existing state of premises in various
parts of the area.
These five documents have been submitted to the Ministry as a special
report.
The main plea of the Bill was for power to acquire land for new
working-class dwellings to replace those which in the course of time
had become worn out and had suffered such damage from the flood that
they had become either wholly or in part unfit for habitation.
A perspective view of the proposed new housing scheme as designed
by Sir Edwin Lutyens is shown on page v of the appendix to this
report.