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48
SECTION H.
REFUSE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL.
Mr. Crowe reports :—
As far as the collection of household refuse is concerned,
1951 was a very successful year. I have stated before that the
first essential for a satisfactory refuse collecting service is
regularity of collection. When the teams are paying their
weekly visits on the same day and at about the same hour there
are practically no complaints. The service has only to be
irregular and over the weekly interval, for the office to be
inundated with complaints, both verbal and written. During the
year the number of complaints received was the fewest since
before the war. The regular weekly collection was maintained
with only slight disturbance at Easter and Christmas. The
collecting teams have been enthusiastic in their endeavours to
maintain the weekly collection and the decision of the Public
Health Committee, as a result of my special report, to increase
the number of collectors and to provide the foreman with a
utility van contributed in no small measure to the improved
service.
At the end of the year the Council owned eleven selfcontained
side loading refuse collecting vehicles, one of which
is used exclusively for the collection of kitchen waste.
Four teams operating a relay system with two vehicles each
account for eight of the vehicles, one is engaged on collections
from hospitals, schools and specials, and, as stated, one on pig
food collection, thus leaving one vehicle in reserve to be brought
into service at times of breakdown or repair and overhaul of the
vehicles.
The total number of workmen engaged on the service
including the collection of kitchen waste is forty-one. At the
end of the year, of the forty-one men employed, the average age
was forty years. Seven were in their twenties, thirteen in their
thirties, twelve in their forties and eight in their fifties. The
fact that I have been able to engage younger men to fill vacancies
when they have occurred has contributed to the improved service.
The collectors use skips and where the length of carry is
considerable, as it is in this district, there is a saving in time as
only one trip to the premises is necessary. If the bin were
emptied direct into the vehicle and then returned to its position