View report page

16 Sanitary Circumstances of the District.
and disagreeable degree, the roadway on the Terrace being often
submerged, causing cessation of all traffic, and the occupiers of
houses on the Terrace to adopt hasty measures to prevent the
ingress of water to their premises. Recognising that some measure
or measures should be adopted to mitigate this evil, a sub-committee
has been appointed to consider a scheme prepared by the Surveyor,
for the erection of a suitable wall, as will obviate any risk of
flooding in the future. During the long spell of dry weather
experienced last Summer, complaints were made respecting smells
alleged to arise from the putrefaction of mud and dead fish on the
foreshore of the river.
BARNES GREEN POND.
The following report was made to the Highways Committee
on the 4th December, 1911:-
"In accordance with the instruction of the Council given on
the 14th December, 1911, I beg to report on the effect or likely
effect on the public health of the mud in Barnes Pond.
"My attention was directed to this question during the month
of August, owing to complaints being received respecting smells
emanating from this source, and in one instance, a case of Infectious
Disease was attributed to this cause, another complaint alleging that
the smell was a nuisance under the Public Health Acts, and an action
was threatened against the Council. I gave it as my opinion that
there was no nuisance existing, and based that opinion on the result
of an analysis of the contents of the pond, which I deemed it
advisable to have undertaken. The interpretation of this analysis
is that the contents of the pond was quite unsuitable for any
domestic purpose, as there was evidence of vegetable and animal
contamination. But it is inconceivable that anyone could use the
water for any such purpose, and that the elements composing the
contamination could exist in the air. It is possible, however, that
if these contaminating elements are exposed to the sun's rays there