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40
Proceedings instituted against an owner for failure to comply with
a Statutory Notice resulted in the making of an Order for the work
required to be carried out within 28 days from the date of the hearing.
A penalty of £5 0s. Od. was also imposed. The Nuisance Order
was not complied with within the time allowed by the Court, and in
further exercise of its powers the Council executed the work required
at a cost of £12 0s. Od., which sum was recovered from the
owner without recourse to further legal proceedings.
Rat Repression.
Routine measures for rat repression have continued throughout
the year.
Private Dwellings Scheme. A total of 11,782 visits and revisits
have been paid to 9,127 private houses in the area. 789 infestations
were discovered and dealt with. It will be seen that approximately
8.6 per cent of the properties visited were infested.
Business Premises Scheme. 1,044 visits and revisits have been
made to business premises in the area. 188 infestations were discovered
and dealt with.
Two operations to reduce rat infestation in Sewers were completed
during the year, the first in March, and the second in November. In
this work we have the co-operation of the Borough Engineer's
Department and members of the Highways Section are actually
engaged in the work of laying bait and poison in the sewers under
the direction of the Chief Sanitary Inspector. This work is carried
out in accordance with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
Scheme, and grant aid was available on certain conditions with which
we were able to comply. To assess the value of the operations it is
necessary to refer to the first organized introduction of such measures
embracing the whole of the Borough in October, 1946. It was then
found that 30 per cent. of our sewers were infested. In March,
1947, 28 per cent. were still infested, and this was not a heartening
result. The November operation, however, showed considerable
improvement, only 14 per cent. being infested. The northern,
north-eastern and north-western areas of the Borough are those
mainly affected, the majority of the southern and central areas being,
now, entirely free. Similar work will be carried on in 1948.
The Rodent Operators brought to my notice, in August, 1947,
reports of a very heavy infestation of the common brown rat in a
residential area of the Borough. My subsequent visits to the area
confirmed the alarming nature of the reports.
During the course of my first visit, it is no exaggeration to say
that numbers of rats were always visible, running to and from their
nests, taking no notice at all of my colleagues and myself, and carrying
on quite unconcernedly what I was to discover was their daily routine.
The infestation appeared to centre in the extensive grounds of
two houses, one occupied, the other a " blitzed " shell. The occupied
house had a well-ordered, but heavily infested, garden, in the charge
of a whole-time gardener. Chickens and geese were kept. The
lay-out of the garden provided ample harbourage for rats. It
included a rockery 12 yards wide rising to a height of 5 feet, literally