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51
SUPERVISION OF NEW PROPERTY
In my last annual report I remarked that "the attention of
the Vestry has more than once been called to the necessity
for more supervision being exercised over new property
At present the drains of new houses are always very
carefully tested, but frequently, owing to the time of the
Drainage Inspector being fully occupied, no inspection is
made of the sanitary fittings, which subsequently are sometimes
found not to have been constructed in accordance
with the By-laws; and as the houses have generally changed
hands, the new owner naturally feels aggrieved when called
upon to make certain alterations, having purchased the
house on the understanding that all the sanitary arrangements
had been approved bv the Local Authority. In some
instances even houses have been found to be occupied in
inch an unfinished condition as to be quite unfit for human
habitation. "No newly-erected house should be permitted to
be occupied until not merely the drains, but all the sanitary
appliances have been inspected and approved, and the
Vestry should at once increase their staff, so that this may
be carried out.
The cases of "The Vestry v. Lowman," in the list of
prosecutions under the Public Health Act, serve to
illustrate these remarks, since those houses were let and
occupied when quite unfit for habitation, as the drains were
left open just beneath the windows, the water was not laid
on, water-fittings were not provided, the yards were unpaved
and undrained, in fact they were in a generally unfinished
condition. The Vestry have since appointed an additional
Drainage Inspector, whose duties are entirely connected
with the supervision of the drainage and sanitary appliances
of new houses, but what is really wanted to strengthen
the hands of the Sanitary Authority, and to enable them to
exercise proper control over new houses, is, that the bounty
Council should have power to make a By-law: at a
person shall not let or occupy any new dwelling-house
until such dwelling-house shall, after examination have
been certified by an officer of the Sanitary Authority