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48
asked to include a clause in the next Middlesex County Council General
Powers Bill to give added powers to the County Districts in Middlesex
to deal with water courses.
The ditch at the back of some houses in Cavendish Avenue, Sudbury
Hill which receives surface water from the surrounding roads, houses,
shops, etc. both in Harrow and Wembley, was giving rise to a nuisance.
The ditch is on land owned by the British Transport Commission. The
Highways and Cleansing Committee agreed to the necessary work being
done if the Transport Commission as riparian owners and the owner of
Hill House agreed each to contribute one-third of the cost.
PUBLIC CLEANSING
Much the same arrangements for the collection of refuse, its disposal
and for street cleansing were continued last year as were described in the
Annual Report for 1954.
Each week some 960 tons of refuse are collected by the forty
mechanical vehicles from some 70,000 premises in the district. Other
arrangements are made for the collection of waste paper from shops and
business premises.
For the last few years house refuse from this district has been taken
to a tip at Harefield some five miles from the western boundary of the
district. The present agreement with the Uxbridge Corporation runs to
the 31st March, 1964.
When there were refuse disposal plants in the district, those wishing
to dispose of collections of household material which was not of the
character of that usually placed in the house refuse bin, could have this
collected by the Council's refuse service at a small charge, or could
themselves arrange for it to be taken to the disposal plant. A similar
arrangement was in force for dealing with trade refuse. Since the time
that all the refuse from the district has been disposed of at Harefield.
matters have been much more difficult. Admittedly, the Council is
prepared to collect and remove these materials on request; this thoug
is at a charge, one which many householders are not prepared to meet.
They then find their own solution to their problem, one which frequently
enough results in the depositing of the material somewhere in the district.
Any such accumulations become in their turn an invitation to others with
matter to dispose of to deal with it in the same way. Not only then does
this practice soon lead to an unsightly accumulation, but to one which can
so easily become a sanitary nuisance. Putrescible material is added and
the deposit becomes a breeding ground for flies and rats. Once such a
stage has been reached, the Public Health Department can arrange for
the removal of a deposit at a charge to the Committee ; but short of such
a state of affairs, this accumulation is an eye-sore and detracts from the
amenities of the neighbourhood, whether this deposit is made at the
back of shops in accommodation roads, on parcels of undevelope land
or in the open spaces and commons. The Public Health Committee has
at times been especially concerned with the problem, and they asked the