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ANNUAL REPORT.
The Council House,
Mortlake, S.W.
To the Chairman and Members of the Urban District
Council of Barnes.
Gentlemen,
I beg to submit my Annual Report for the year 1918. It is
still necessarily curtailed. Work under the Housing and Town Planning
Act is still in abeyance, but should shortly improve. It is hoped
that 150 new houses will be erected shortly, and that some undesirable
areas will be cleared to make room for new houses. Good
housing accommodation is the first important step towards lessening
the number of cases of Tuberculosis. The proportion of slums to
good property in this district is fortunately small, but could be
made smaller, and this ratio perhaps accounts for the fact that
although Tuberculosis has increased generally throughout the
country, it is not the case in this district.
Infectious disease has also kept remarkably low, except for the
pandemic of Influenza, and a spring outbreak of Measles.
Once labour is available and material at hand, building should
progress on garden city lines and the amenities of the district
preserved.
I trust that this report will show that the staff of the Public
Health Department (though short handed still), have, so far as their
resources have allowed them, carried out their duties satisfactorily.
I beg also to acknowledge the help of the other officers of this
Council in Hospital and other matters.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
B. C. STEVENS.