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THE HEALTH OF BARKING
Report. Owing to the difficulties met with in the supply of steel and building
materials the offending chemical process was still operating at the end of the year.
In addition, delay was increased by the proposals of the River Roding Catchment
Board for major reconstruction of the Loxford Arm. The relation of the floor
levels of the houses in Victoria Road to the height of the sub-soil water is such that
relief for the occupiers can only be provided by filling in the sub-floor spaces and
raising the general level of the back land within the curtilage of the premises.
Further progress in this direction I believe will be achieved in the near future.
PUBLIC CLEANSING.
During the year 8,580 loads of refuse were collected with an average weight of
2.25 tons per load.
In my Annual Report for 1946, I dealt at some length with the question of
cleansing dustbins. I regard the removal of offensive matter from the precincts
of an occupied dwelling as a primary requisite of all public health work. It is also
important that the offensive material should be disposed of finally by a sanitary
operation. The present arrangement in Barking is for the whole of the domestic
refuse to be discharged on low lying land which is being reclaimed for the
construction of playing fields. In this work the Council is to be commended
because if carried out in a sanitary manner, it is work of practical value. Whilst
it is true that the most important aspect of public cleansing relates to the removal
of offensive matter from the precincts of houses, much useful work is carried out
by the cleansing of streets by the removal of trade waste from shops, canteens and
factories. There is need for improvement in Barking in the present method of
dealing with what is generically described as ' trade refuse.' The fact that this is
a service for which the user must pay a fee acts as a deterrent and consequently is
less efficient in operation. As your Medical Officer, I advocate the same service
for the removal of trade waste, consisting of organic matter, as I do for domestic
refuse. If the present system of removal prevents shop-keepers and other traders
using the service freely then such changes as are necessary in the operation of the
service should be made.
The streets of the town are kept in a noticeable clean condition but in a town
like Barking where there are so few features worthy of attention by the passer-by,
much could be achieved in dispelling gloom by the painting of street furniture,
such as kiosks, litter bins, lighting columns, etc. in fresh and bright colours.
I have noted too with pleasure in some of our adjoining boroughs tasteful gardens
laid out at road junctions with ornamental seats upon which some of the older
residents sit and meditate. Anything which tends to beautify and add colour to
the ordinary life makes its contribution to the public health.
Secondary Streets. Shortly before the war a programme was drawn up which
scheduled for early paving and drainage a number of the access passages at the
rear of terraced houses, built about 50 years ago and mostly in Gascoigne Ward.
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