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Factories Act, 1937.
187 visits of inspection were made to factories in the area. The
following nuisances were remedied following service of informal notice:—
Insufficient sanitary accommodation
Unsuitable and defective sanitary accommodation 15
Miscellaneous offences 1
Water Supply.
Water supply of the area has been satisfactory in quality and
quantity, the Metropolitan Water Board supplying all properties by
main.
Bacteriological examination of the supply has been regular, 41
samples being taken during the year. On two occasions when the County
Analyst's report gave rise to some doubt as to the quality of the supply,
repeat samples were taken and the Metropolitan Water Board notified.
On both occasions the repeat samples and the check samples taken by the
Metropolitan Water Board proved to be satisfactory.
Shops Act.
Six-hundred and eighty-eight (688) visits were paid in connection
with the Shops Acts.
Twenty-three (23) contraventions were discovered and remedied.
Rat and Mouse Repression.
It will be recalled that the Council offers a free rat and mouse
repression service to private householders in the District. The facility
when extended to business premises has to be paid for.
During 1949, 463 complaints were received, 93 of these being on
business premises. 135 visits and 931 revisits were paid to business
Premises, and 1,092 visits and 3,701 revisits were paid to private premises.
It will be seen from these figures that the complaints averaged more
than one per day throughout the year, and although the problem is
satisfactorily controlled in the Borough it does not appear to diminish.
We do not, however, find the serious and intensified forms of infestation
which were frequent in the early days of the operation of our scheme,
but there is no doubt that the nuisance caused by this vermin is as
widespread as ever. One hesitates to imagine what would be the position
were our energies relaxed in any way. The opinion has been formed
that many complaints received are unnecessary, for frequently it is found
that the sight of one rat in a garden will result in a complaint being made.
This one rat is frequently a marauder and the reason for its continued
appearance in a garden is usually because the occupier is leaving an attraction
for the rat, either by way of accumulation or food. I have found
it necessary on occasion to draw the attention of complainants to the
fact hat, whilst the Council has, in everybody's interests, introduced
set methods of repression, the onus for dealing with the matter, so far
as the law is concerned, is mainly upon the occupier. Often the
exercise of a little common sense would have obviated the need for
making a complaint.
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