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72
received such a notice, is then not permitted to demolish until the
building has been cleansed from vermin by the local authority, but
after the building has been vacated the owner may serve a notice
requiring the local authority within 14 days to cleanse and the
owner at the expiration of the 14 days from receipt of the notice
may proceed to demolish, whether the work of cleansing has been
carried out or not.
Such cleansing of premises is not the subject now under consideration
: the Public Health Committee has authorised such cleansing
and no repayment from the Housing Committee has been suggested.
The repayment I suggested was solely with regard to cyanide treatment
of tenants' furniture; and it is also suggested that, tenants
having been placed in a clean condition in clean homes, the
management responsible should endeavour to see that the homes
are kept in that condition. If such homes become verminous it is
also obvious that Section 82 of the Housing Act, 1935,does not
apply. An extract from my report to the Health Committee on
August 28th with regard to the removals to Banister House may
be of interest under the circumstances:—
''Removals from Clearance Areas to Banister House.
"During the period 8th July to 15th August, 1935, 160
families were removed by the Borough Council from houses in
clearance areas. One hundred and fifty-nine of these families
were transferred to the Council's newly-erected flats at Banister
House, while the remaining seven families were accommodated
in other flats under the control of the Council.
"Prior to the date fixed for the removal of each family a
circular letter containing details of the procedure to be followed
was left with the family. Approximately 170 bars of soap and
a similar number of bottles of disinfectant fluid were distributed
to facilitate cleaning up before removal, and the tenants responded
well in this matter as they did also in discarding
useless or dirty articles.
"Furniture and effects other than beds and bedding were
collected in removal vans hired by the Borough Engineer's
Department, and the loaded vans were placed in the cyanide
gas chamber and exposed to cyanide gas for two hours. The
vans and their contents were then freed from gas and the
goods delivered the same day at the new flats. Any articles
thought to be likely to retain the gas were placed in the
perambulator shelters at Banister House until the following
day and then delivered to the tenants. All articles were
tested for freedom from gas before delivery.