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55
REPORT OF THE CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTOR
P.E. KINTON, M.A.P.H.I.. M.R.S.H.
In the year under review there was no reduction in the interest in
the topic of Environmental Health,, If anything, public interest, news
media, and governments, showed an even greater interest than in the
previous year.
There is every reason to believe that this interest will continue
and the public participation by refusing to accept unnecessary packaging
of goods and the concern about vehicle pollution, pollution of the sea,
contamination of rivers, will feature prominently in the news. To call
for drastic measures to prevent the gross pollution by other people and
organisations is very commendable but it is necessary that every member
of the community should make his contribution in the hundred and one
small ways in which the health and amenities of the borough can be preserved.
Acceptance of low hygiene standards in the handling of food,
the discarding of unwanted cigarette cartons in the streets, the fouling
of footpaths by dogs, the offensive bonfire, and the accumulation of
refuse, all detract from the very environment which we are seeking to
protect.
Although the Greater London Council provides facilities for the
reception of unwanted large items of household refuse at the loading bay
at Athelstan Road, Kingston upon Thames, mattresses, armchairs, and
similar discarded items can be seen littering the rivers and open spaces.
As will be seen from the report, progress has been made in the
introduction of general improvement areas in the borough. This exercise,
which has resulted in the public participation and the formation of a
committee of the residents of Mill Street Area, Kingston upon Thames, who
worked closely with the officers of the Council, gives an indication of
the success which can be achieved in this direction. It is also worthy
of note that such schemes require the co-operation of a multitude of disciplines
within the Council's own organisation and the assistance of
colleagues in all departments is acknowledged.
The department has for many years been concerned with the identification
and treatment of houses infested with various insects. We were
rather surprised to find an infestation of Aridius satelles - plaster
beetles - in a house at Tolworth. These insects which originate from
Australia were submitted to the Pest Laboratory of the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and were then sent to the British
Museum entomologists who must have been delighted with this discovery
for they only had two specimens in their collection at that time. It
should be added that these insects themselves are quite harmless.