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REPORT OF THE SANITARY ADMINISTRATION
of the
DISTRICT FOR THE YEAR 1953
By G. A. Webber,
Chief Sanitary Inspector, Borough of Beckenham.
Mr. H. G. Richards, who has served the Beckenham Borough
Council as a District Sanitary Inspector since 1920, retired in 1953.
His resignation was marked by a special reference in the Council
Minutes to the value of his services, and I should like to add my
appreciation of his efficiency as an Officer and his friendliness as a
colleague. His intimate knowledge of the District was invaluable to
us on many occasions, and I was always able to rely upon his full
co-operation from the very first moment of my service with this Council.
Mr. G. W. Matthews, a younger but equally respected colleague
left to take up a more lucrative appointment with Guildford Council.
Mr. K. Coppin joined the staff as a Sanitary Inspector in September,
1953.
At the close of the year, one vacancy existed.
This has again been a year in which the Department has continued its
work towards the reconditioning of the many sub-standard houses which
may, for some years to come, have to provide dwelling accommodation
for many families.
Experience tends to show that the tenants of such properties are
quick to avail themselves of the powers granted to local authorities to
demand the abatement of nuisances, and the remedy of sanitary defects
and disrepair in their homes. Whilst we have not had time to re-visit
many of the properties which have been reconditioned under our
supervision since the work was commenced in 1946, the absence of
complaint is a sure guide to the success of the work, and to the duration
of the better structural and decorative repair into which the properties
were put.
Compared to so many other districts, Beckenham is fortunate in
the facilities enabling progress in environmental hygiene, and perhaps
not least so in the type of sub-standard property which is within its
boundaries. Such houses come into that category mainly because they
do not have bathrooms, internal water closets, and facilities for the
supply of constant hot water. They are not tumbledown, nor
dangerous in structure ; the vast majority are dry, and of sound
construction, both as to external walls and roofing. They are well-
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