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TRANSPORT OF REFUSE BY LIGHTERS
In the Annual Report for 1957 it was mentioned that complaints were received occasionally
from the Port Health Inspectors, the River Police and the Port of London Authority about the
failure of the lighterage industry to conform with the Byelaws made by the Port Health Authority
in 1948 relating to the transport by barge of refuse and other offensive cargoes.
At a meeting between members of the Association of Master Lightermen and Barge Owners
and Officers of the Port Health Authority, the representatives of the Association emphasised
that the requirements for covering refuse as prescribed in the Byelaws were not reasonable,
even to the extent that it was practically impossible to comply with them.
Following experiments conducted in 1957 by Messrs. Wm. Cory & Son Ltd., the Association
of Master Lightermen and Barge Owners suggested that Byelaw 2 of the 1948 Byelaws requiring
the use of close-fitting hatches and overall waterproof sheeting securely fastened to the coamings
should be amended.
The views of the Association of Master Lightermen and Barge Owners were considered and
accepted by the Port and City of London Health Committee and the amended Byelaws came into
operation on 1st October 1958. The effect has been to substitute the following provisions for
Byelaw 2 in the principal Byelaws of 1948:
"FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUISANCES ARISING FROM REFUSE IN OR UPON ANY
SHIP, BOAT OR VESSEL
A person who shall remove or transport or cause to be removed or transported in or upon
any vessel, within the District of the Port Health Authority, any refuse, shall :—
(a) Remove or transport, or cause to be removed or transported, such refuse in a sound,
suitable and watertight vessel provided with permanent coamings and provided with
stout waterproof sheeting in good repair and capable at all times of completely covering
the refuse and capable of being properly and securely attached to such coamings.
(b) Except during the process of loading or unloading properly and securely cover and keep
covered or cause to be so covered and kept covered all such refuse with stout waterproof
sheeting properly and securely attached to the said coamings of the vessel so as
to prevent any such refuse from being spilled or from falling or being blown into the air.
(c) Not load or cause or permit to be loaded any refuse adjacent to the permanent coamings
of the vessel above the level of the said coamings".
It has been agreed by all concerned that these basic provisions are quite reasonable and,
while it is yet too early to predict the full advantage of the modification, complaints are less
frequent. However, any failure to comply in future must be met with by legal enforcement if
the object of the Byelaws is to be attained.
HOUSEBOAT BYELAWS
Houseboat Byelaws were made by the Port Health Authority in 1924 but as they relate
mainly to cleanliness and the prevention of .infectious disease and nuisances, they are, in
practice, of little use in tackling the fundamental problem of getting rid of the unsatisfactory
houseboat. Action can, of course, be taken under the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, but
here we are restricted to actual nuisances and experience has shown that it is difficult and
costly to the Authority to deal effectively with even the worst type of boat.
Before the war the Port Health Authority and the Port of London Authority prepared draft
joint byelaws which would provide for the registration of houseboats, the deployment of houseboats
at specified places, the limiting of the number of occupants, and general sanitation,
including requirements for lighting, ventilation, cleanliness, freedom from dampness and nuisances.
However, the outbreak of the war and subsequently the post-war housing conditions
deferred any possibility of bringing the Byelaws into effect though they have in recent years
been considered carefully from time to time by the various interested parties.
In 1937, when the Byelaws were first submitted to the Ministry of Health, and immediately
after the war, the houseboat situation, particularly in the Lower Reaches of the Thames, was at
its worst. But since that time there has been a great improvement, mainly due to the powers
exercised by the local riparian authorities under the Essex County Council Act, 1952 which
prohibits the mooring of a houseboat unless the local Council's consent is obtained. This has
resulted in the numbers of houseboats in the Lower Reaches being reduced by over 78% with
greater powers of supervision by the authorities over those remaining. Throughout the Port,
the numbers are down by 58% since 1945.
The stage has now been reached when consideration must be given as to whether it is
necessary to proceed with the byelaws in their proposed form, particularly so as it is understood
there is a possibility of any byelaws made jointly with the P.L.A. being challenged as to their
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