[Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Rochford R.D.C.

  • Rochford (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Rochford R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Building Byelaws Revised building byelaws for the Rocbford Rural District were confirmed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government and came into operation on 21st November, 1953. From the public health point of view, the main differences in the new byelaws, as com¬ pared with those now superseded are the reduction in the minimum Height required for rooms from eight feet to seven feet six inches, the omission of a standard for natural lighting of rooms based on the ratio of window to floor area and the deletion of the require¬ ment that a cesspool shall be sited fifty feet from any dwelling house. Housing Repairs and Improvements An approval was given during the year, under the Housing Act, 1949, and with the consent of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, to an improvement grant in respect of three agricultural cottages in Canewdon, although the work was not com¬ menced before the end of the year. The position with regard to effecting the repair of unfit houses remained materially the same as in previous years. The factors militating against successful achievement in this held were as before, the relatively high cost of repairs as compared with the income from the rents of premises which are controlled under the Rents Restrictions Acts. SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA Water Supply An outline of the then existing provision of main water supplies in the Rochford Rural District was given in my Annual Report for 1949, and all subsequent extensions have been noted in the appro¬ priate years. In 1953, no new ma]or water mams were laid in the District but various small lengths were laid to serve the several new housing estates being developed. There were 300 new connections made to the water mams in the District during the year and, in addition, 3 houses which previously relied on standpipe supplies were provided with a piped water supply inside the house. The total length of the water mams in the District at the end of 1953 was approximately 90 miles. Frequent samples of the raw water supplies and of the main water as supplied to consumers, are taken by the statutory water undertakers, the Southend Waterworks Company, for examination in their own laboratory. In addition, from time to time, samples are submitted to the Counties Public Health Laboratories for examina¬ tion. A copy of a report from the Counties Public Health Labor¬ atories on the chemical analysis and bacteriological examination of a sample of mam water taken on the 20th July, 1953, from the -Southend Waterworks Company’s mams is set on page . There was no contamination of the main water supply during
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