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ANNUAL REPORT OP THE MEDICAL OFFICER OP HEALTH
FOR 1947
Public Health Deportment,
2, Shalston Villas,
Surbiton.
July, 1948.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Surbiton.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am presenting my 26th Annual Report to which is attached the
Sanitary Inspector's Report.
I regret to have to record the death of Mr. McClelland, the
Chief Sanitary Inspector, after a protracted illness which was a
great loss both to me and the Public Health Department. His keeness
for work was, I think, appreciated by all, and his absence from duty
threw a great burden on the staff and on his deputy who, after a
lapse of six months, was appointed Senior Sanitary Inspector in his
stead. I am certain he will prove to be equally reliable and a great
worker, and apart from the personal loss, will give the Council and
myself the same loyalty which the late Sanitary Inspector endeavourei
to give.
As suggested in my previous report it might be as well for the
Council to consider the provision of accommodation for the elderly
people in the form of blocks of houses, hostels, etc. and I suggest
that further homes should be erected in addition to quota to combat
the possible increasing overcrowding. The practice of permitting two
or three families to occupy rooms in one house, and to use the only
kitchen in most cases and other offices seeus to me to be a rather
retrogade step to the health of the inhabitants and, for want of a
better term "moral overcrowding", leading to mental strain, distress
and other undesirable features.
It is interesting to note that the number of new houses, (with
the exception of those rebuilt following enemy action) and the
conversion of flats, total 173, out of which 119 were built by privet
enterprise and only 54 by local authorities.
STATISTICS.
Area (in acres) 4,709
Population (1947) Registrar General's Estimate 58,110
Resident Population (Census 1931) 29,396
Estimated number of separate habitable dwellings
(houses and flats) in the Borough at the end of year 16,575
Number of new houses erected during year:-
(a) By local authority 34
(b) By other local authorities 16
(c) By private enterprise 111
(d) Rebuilt following destruction by
enemy action 77
(e) Number of self contained flats
provided by conversion
(private enterprise) 8
(f) Number of units of accommodation
provided by adaptation (by local
authority) 4
Rateable value at 1st October, 1947 £600,798
Sum represented by a penny rate £2,390
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