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HOUSEBOATS AT BENFLEET CREEK.
The Essex County Council Act, 1952 provides that the mooring or placing of any houseboat
within the county shall not be lawful without the written consent (which may be conditional)
of the council of the district in which the houseboat is situated and that the council may require
the owner or occupier to remove or demolish any houseboat not authorised by them.
Your Worshipful Committee are, however, still responsible for the sanitary supervision under
the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, of houseboats coming within the area of jurisdiction of the
Port Health Authority, although under the Essex County Council Act, the local council are now
responsible for the licensing and drawing up of conditions under which they are prepared to grant
licenses to houseboats.
The duties of your Committee in regard to the sanitary supervision of houseboats and also,
incidentally, those of the Port of London Authority, are safeguarded by Section 212 of the Essex
County Council Act which reads as follows:-
(1) No consent shall be given by the controlling authority to the mooring or placing of any
houseboat under Part VII (Houseboats) of this Act—
(a) (i) Within the Port of London without the previous written assent of the port
authority; or
(ii) Within the Port of London as defined by sub-section (1) of Section 304 of the
Public Health (London) Act, 1936, without the previous written assent of the
mayor and commonalty and citizens of the City of London as the port health
authority for the said Port of London;
Provided that the port authority or the said port health authority may
only withhold such assent respectively until any requirement which may be
lawfully imposed with respect to such houseboats by the port authority or the
port health authority shall have been complied with to the satisfaction of the
port authority or the port health authority as the case may be; or
(b) in contravention of any powers for the time being lawfully exercisable by the port
authority or the port health authority with respect to any such houseboat.
In November of last year your past Medical Officer was informed by the Clerk of the
Benfleet Urban District Council that his Council had already served notices requiring a number
of houseboats to be removed or demolished within a period of six months, but that before any
further action was taken in the matter of licenses the Council would like the opportunity of
discussing the subject with your Medical Officer.
As the result of an informal meeting and subsequent correspondence, the Benfleet Urban
District Council agreed that it would be advisable, in the first instance, to serve removal or
demolition notices on houseboats definitely unsatisfactory or unfit, and to issue 'temporary'
consents to other houseboats so as to enable the Council to be given time to gain experience
before giving final consent to houseboats which conform with reasonable standards of hygiene
and sanitation, including spacing, water supply and disposal of night soil. Your Medical Officer
also arranged to furnish the Benfleet Urban District Council with a list of houseboats considered
by him to be unsatisfactory from a public health point of view, and this was done.
The Clerk of the Benfleet Urban District Council wrote to the Town Clerk to say that his
Council have agreed that, subject to the approval of the Port Health Authority under Section 212
of the Essex County Council Act. 1952, consents shall be issued in respect of forty craft for a
period of twelve months without any conditions; and that the owners be informed that the boats
must be removed at the expiration of that period unless a previous application had been made
by them to the Council and renewal granted. The Clerk to the Benfleet Urban District Council
asked the authority of the Port Health Authority to the issue of such consents. The houseboats
concerned were: —
East Creek.
Manana, Whylaway, Madeline, Buchra, Frogmore, Bligh, Pamela, MTB 231,
Lets Pretend, MTB 492, Invader, Bettaglen, Margaret, Bendigo, Mendip and
Margot.
West Creek.
Bill Lusty, Blaranald, Smugglers, Patsy Ann, Sans Souci, Nisene, Lydia, Amy,
Jewel, Hi-de-Hi, Lowestoft, Haven, Wanderlust, Marguerite, Herald, Sunrise,
Winmoor, Iris, Blake, Havic, Emma Jane, The Zep, Swimming Club Boat
and Yacht Club Boat.
Your Worshipful Committee after considering the proposal of the Benfleet Urban District
Council raised no objection to the proposed action and instructed Mr. Town Clerk to inform the
Benfleet Urban District Council accordingly.
SECTION XIV—PUBLIC HEALTH (SHELLFISH) REGULATIONS, 1934.
A full and detailed report on the operation of the above-named Regulations was made last
year, with particular reference to the Cockle industry. The recommendations and improvements
described in that report have been maintained throughout the year and since no complaints of
gastro-intestinal disturbance have been received either from individuals or from the Medical
Officer of Health of Southend, it must be assumed that the recommendations made have had
the desired effect.
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