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collection ; details of this exciting innovation have been kindly supplied by the Director of Public
Cleansing and are to be found on page 15. This system has the additional merit of reducing the noise
hitherto inherent in older methods of refuse collection, the special bins being fitted with a rubber rim
at the base and a plastic ring inside the lid.
The problem of personal discomfort caused by noise has come very much to the fore of late and
this Department receives many complaints from people living or working in the Borough. As my
predecessor pointed out in his admirable review of the subject in his Annual Report for 1958 it is
possible to reduce the amount of noise emanating from certain sources, for example the drills used
in building operations. Since then the Noise Abatement Act has come into force, and the publicity
which it has very naturally received appears to have led members of the public to believe that a local
authority is now able to stop any kind of noise to which they may personally object. This concept
is wholly misleading. The fact is that individual variation in reaction to noise is so great that a
concerted complaint is the exception rather than the rule. A certain amount of noise may be inseparable
from a particular activity and at the present time it is purely a matter of opinion as to when this may
constitute a nuisance from a legal standpoint. In these circumstances the findings of the Wilson
Committee, set up by the Ministry of Science to review the whole complex subject of noise, are awaited
with especial interest.
The first sixty years of the twentieth century have witnessed a truly remarkable transformation
in the public health. Entering the seventh decade of this dramatic century it is true to say of this
country that an increasingly major obstacle to good health is the failure of the individual to take
advantage of knowledge readily available and to use it for the benefit of himself, his family, and the
community at large. Thus health education assumes ever greater importance and for this reason
the appointment of the Cohen Committee to review the whole subject as mentioned on page 10 is
particularly welcome. Clean personal habits are a fundamental goal in this field ; yet a recent census
of the use of facilities provided in the Oxford Circus Public Conveniences, where free washing
amenities have been provided since 1948, showed that only a quarter of the users washed their hands !
By similar neglect of elementary hygiene a food handler can, and all too frequently does, make a
mockery of the most up-to-date premises and equipment. In truth, personal responsibility in matters
of health cannot be abrogated. There is no truer saying than that " Public Health is People." The
contribution of the individual is as vital to communal health as it is to prosperity. Everyone has a
part to play.
It is in this spirit of team-work that I wish to express my profound gratitude to His Worship the
Mayor, to the Chairman, Councillor Mrs. F. E. Glenny, and members of the Public Health Committee,
and to members of the Council, generally, for their kindness and encouragement during my first
few months in office. To my colleagues in other Departments of the Council I offer my sincere thanks
for their unfailing help and co-operation. Lastly I am very conscious of the debt which I owe to the
staff of the Public Health Department for their loyal and invaluable support at all times.
I am, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
HASTINGS E. A. CARSON,
Medical Officer of Health.
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