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PUBLIC CLEANSING SERVICE.
The Health Committee is responsible for the collection
and disposal of house and trade refuse, the collection and
sale of salvageable materials and the cleansing and maintenance
of public conveniences.
Refuse Collection and Disposal.
The collection and disposal of house refuse is carried
out by direct labour, and a weekly collection is made. Trade
refuse is cleared from shops and factories by arrangement
with the occupiers. A charge is made for this service, based
on the average quantity to be removed each week.
On several occasions during the year difficulty was
experienced in maintaining a weekly collection of refuse,
due to shortage of manpower. The recruitment of suitable
men for this work is becoming increasingly difficult, and it
does seem that if a satisfactory labour force is to be maintained,
the rate of pay will have to be made to compare
favourably with the rates at present paid in industry. Refuse
is collected from over 30,000 premises, and whilst no actual
weights are available, it is estimated that the tonnage collected
yearly is 22,700 tons. The Council operate a salvage
scheme, and waste paper, textiles, scrap metal, etc., is collected
by means of trailers attached to the refuse collection
vehicles.
Four new Shelvoke & Drewry Fore and Aft Tippers
(16-18 cu. yds. capacity) were ordered in December, 1959
to replace existing Side Loading Freighters.
All refuse collected was disposed of by controlled tipping
at East Wickham, the average haul to the disposal
point being 2\ miles. During the year the muledozer used
for levelling and consolidating the refuse was replaced by
a Bristol Duplex tractor, and this machine has given excellent
service. It was intended to open up the new tip at Stone
during the year, but manpower and transport difficulties
made it impossible to do so without the risk of falling
seriously behind with collections.
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