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Undoubtedly the maintenance of a house in an efficient state
of repair can be effected by co-operation between landlord and
tenant.
During the past year the inspection of the cottages in
Avenue Terrace (Kingston Road), California Road, Burden's
Cottages (Kingston Road), St. John's Road, and parts of Roberts
Road, Wellington Crescent, Northcote Road, and Salisbury
Road, has been undertaken, and with very satisfactory results.
Proper sanitary receptacles for house refuse have been
provided, the yards at the rear for a sufficient distance from the
back door to the w.c. paved with impervious material with a fall
to a properly trapped gully so as to take away all rain or other
waste waters from the immediate neighbourhood of the back door,
proper sanitary fittings fixed in place of defective or ones of obsolete
and insanitary patterns, and the drains re-laid, not to mention
many much needed sanitary improvements inside the houses, such
as new sinks and sink waste pipes, new scullery floors, and the
cleansing of walls and ceilings.
It will be my endeavour to accomplish much of this work in
the future, and by keeping at it, to do a little to prevent cottage
properties from lapsing into the conditions referred to.
In this work several clauses in Part 3, " Sanitary Provisions"
of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907, which came into
operation in this District on January 1st, 1908, will, I am sure, be
found of valuable assistance. I may add that by this Act, " Sec. 35,"
there is an extension of the definition of a " nuisance " for the purposes
of the Public Health Act, 1875, enabling Local Authorities to
deal with many cases which were not defined as nuisances under
the original " Act."
Also under this Act, registers will have to be kept and
inspections made of Registries for Servants, and Dealers in Old
Metal or Marine Stores.
The Paving of Back Yards.—This is a work which requires
to be pushed forward. Many of the back yards and also approaches
to the rear entrances of property being in a very bad state.
This work will now be carried out by notices served under
Sec. 25 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907. The
bye-law which was in force in the district regarding the paving of
yards becoming void with the operation of the 1907 Act.
Nuisance Bye-laws.—(The model code) were adopted during
the year and came into operation on October 30th, 1908.