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ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Caravan Sites Act 1968
The Caravan Sites Act 1968 restricts the eviction from caravan sites of
occupiers of caravans, and makes provision for the establishment of such
sites by local authorities for the use of gypsies. Part II of this Act, which
requires the provision of such sites by certain local authorities, came into
operation on the 1st April, 1970. Local authorities were asked to give notice
to the Minister by the 30th September, 1970, of the number and location of
sites to be provided by them. The Council expressed its intention of providing
a site but the location has yet to be decided.
Pending the provision of a permanent site, a temporary area was allocated
on land in Turkey Street, with sufficient accommodation for twelve caravans.
The site is not provided with roads or hard-standings. Several occupants
have endeavoured to overcome this by laying hard-core on and adjacent to
their pitches. The general appearance of the site is poor and conditions in
winter months are not satisfactory. Toilet facilities have been provided on
a minimal communal basis. Communal use means that frequently the
hygienic conditions are not satisfactory and the facilities provided become
unusable.
Middlesex County
Council Act 1944
The provisions of the Middlesex County Council Act 1944 were invoked to
bring about the removal of caravans from unauthorised sites. Nominal fines
were imposed by the Court but the gypsies remained in the Borough, moving
from one open site to another until it suited their purpose to go.
It was hoped that the provision of the temporary site would overcome the
problem of itinerant caravanners parking without authority on open ground
throughout the eastern half of the borough. However, there is a tendency
for the gypsy community to return, in the autumn, to this area, and this year
proved no exception. All efforts to persuade the gypsies to remove from
the land, which was variously owned, met with failure, and forcible eviction
was resorted to in some instances.
In the Borough there is one privately owned licensed residential site containing
sixteen caravans Eighteen caravan sites at individual nurseries for the
use of employees are also licensed. A further site owned by the Council
and situated in the Green Belt is to be closed down. Housing accommodation
was offered to the occupants and the majority accepted, only two caravans
remaining at the end of the year.
Canal Boats
Sections 249-258 Public
Health Act 1936
Section 79,
Public Health Act 1961
The River Lea Navigation runs through the eastern extremity of the borough
from north to south. The canal boats using this waterway for the transport
of goods are not residential and do not therefore require registration for
public health purposes.
Shops and Offices
Offices, Shops &
Railway Premises
Act 1963
The Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 is designed to raise the
standard of working conditions, thereby promoting the health, welfare and
safety of the employees.
Broadly, the Act gives the office and shop worker protection similar to that
afforded to the industrial worker by the Factories Acts. Enforcement of the
provisions of the Act is divided between Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate
and local authorities. Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate enforce the
provisions in Crown property, local authority premises, railway premises and
offices and shops in factories covered by the Factories Act 1961.
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