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HOUSEBOATS AT BENFLEET
The Essex County Council Act, 1952 provides that the mooring of any houseboats within the
County shall not be lawful without the consent 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 to demolish
any houseboat not authorised by them.
However, the Port Health Authority are still held responsible under the Public Health (London)
Act, 1936 for the sanitary supervision of houseboats coming within the jurisdiction of the Port
Health Authority, although, according to the Essex County Council Act 1952, the local Council
in Essex are responsible for licensing houseboats and establishing conditions under which such
licenses will be granted.
The responsibility of the Port Health Authority in relation to the sanitary supervision of
houseboats has been acknowledged by Section 212 of the Essex County Council Act, 1952 which
provides inter alia that no license shall be given to moor a houseboat within the Port of London
without the previous consent of the Corporation of London as the Port Health Authority of the Port
of London. During the year, the Benfleet Urban District Council granted temporary licenses to
twenty-one houseboats, no objections to these applications being raised by the Port Health Authority.
It is anticipated that this number will gradually diminish for various reasons and it has been
noted that less of the craft appear to be used for permanent habitation. The new factor for consideration,
apart from the sanitary conditions of the houseboats, is the enviromental conditions of
the permanent moorings which could be prejudicial to health. These will be considered with other
aspects in full co-operation with the Local Council.
DANGEROUS DRUGS
During the year thirty-one certificates authorising the purchase of scheduled Dangerous Drugs
were issued under the Dangerous Drugs Regulations,1953, Regulation 13 (2) of which is as follows:—
(a) The master of a foreign ship which is in a port in Great Britain shall be authorised to
procure such quantity of drugs and preparations as may be certified by the medical
officer of health of the port health authority within whose jurisdiction the ship is
or, in his absence, by the assistant medical officer of health, to be necessary for
the equipment of the ship until it reaches its home port.
(b) A person who supplies a drug or preparation in accordance with a certificate given
under this paragraph shall retain the certificate and mark it with the date on which
the drug or preparation was supplied and keep it on his premises so as to be at all
times available for inspection.
PIGEON CONTROL
While the feral pigeon problem remains there must be vigilance to counter incursions of flocks
from outside roosting sites. Such roosting centres as exist in the Docks are given regular attention
with a view to the elimination of nesting and the destruction of eggs. The usual places frequented
by the flocks include the granaries, although any centres where food is available receive a quota.
Controlling procedure continues on the same pattern. Sporadic operations are carried out by
an expert private Contractor employed by the Port of London Authority while some regular control
measures are adopted by tenants within the Docks, using their own employees to trap birds and
destroy eggs. Operational techniques include the use of narcotic bait and the subsequent destruction
of the birds recovered while under the influence of the narcotic. These operations are,
of course, conducted when the Docks are not working normally in the early morning when pigeons
frequent the Docks to feed.
There has been less evidence of fouling of premises and of damage done by pigeons. No major
complaint has been received, and minor complaints have been negligible.
Number of birds trapped 712
Number of eggs destroyed 496
Number of birds narcoticised 8,717
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