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Other typical forms of bad arrangement are living rooms entered direct
from the street or forecourt rooms intercommunicating absence of passages
ground floor rooms at different levels and/or below ground level low ceilings
fuel storage cupboards beneath stairs and entered from living rooms doors of
adjacent door openings collide when opened and room accommodation cramped and
congested - in many houses floor space of living rooms does not exceed 90 sq.ft.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
All houses are between 70 and 100 years old and are out-worn to such a
degree as to be beyond any material improvement short of demolition and rebuilding.
They are obsolete in design badly arranged internally and/or externally
deficient in amenities now regarded as essential and fall seriously short of
the general standard of housing in the district.
The Crescent Road Area marks the beginning of a long term programme of slum clearance
and re-development in the Borough and as many years must elapse before its fulfilment it is
inevitable owing to the shortage of alternative housing accommodation and the scarcity of
land on which to build new houses - that a substantial proportion of the 1,500 or more
houses reported to the Minister pursuant to section 1 of the Housing Repairs and Rents Act,
1954. as being unfit for habitation and liable to be dealt with under section 17 (demolition)
and/or section 42 (clearance areas) of the Housing Act will have to be retained and main
tained for housing purposes for many years to come. The Public Health Committee will there
fore be faced for an indefinite period with the problem of enforcing essential repairs to
insanitary properties.
The section of this report entitled "Sanitary circumstances of the area. Part 2
Statistics" contains full details of inspections and notices served under the Housing and
Public Health Acts and relevant legislation the number of houses classified as a result
of inspections under the Housing Consolidated Regulations 1925/32, details of improvements
affectedto dwelling houses as a result of informal and statutory action, and further information
regarding the institution of legal proceedings and the administration of the Rent
Act, 1957.
RODENT AND INSECT PEST CONTROL
Under the prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949 the Statutory duty of the Council
in regard to rodent control is threefold to inspect the district in order to ascertain
the degree of infestation by rats and mice, to destroy rodents on land of which they are
the occupiers and to ensure if necessary by legal proceedings that owners and occupiers
of land are taking all practicable steps for the destruction of rats and mice. It should
be noted that land for this purpose includes buildings or parts of buildings. In order to
meet its obligations under the Act the Local Authority must maintain an organisation ade
quate to requirements for effective rodent control according to the condition of infesta
tion of its area and in particular pay special attention to efficient rodent control in
its sewers, refuse dumps, refuse destructors and its other public service properties. In
this connection the Council's sewers were disinfested in April and October, each treatment
being of four to five weeks duration and involving some 1,000 odd manholes. As a result of
investigation of surface infestations by the Public Health Inspectorate it was necessary
to liaise with the Borough Engineer and Surveyor in regard to the repair of drainage
systems at 115 houses which had proved a souce of infestation. Some 518 complaints were
received during the year concerning rodent infestation involving treatment by rodent
operatives of 419 private houses and 100 business premises. The total number of visits in
connection with these investigations and subsequent disinfestation amounted to 5,188.
The Chairman of the Public Health Committee. Councillor P.W.Marshall, and the Chief
(28)