[Report 1896] / Medical Officer of Health, Peterborough City & Borough.

  • Peterborough (England). City & Borough Council.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1896] / Medical Officer of Health, Peterborough City & Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    BOROUGH SURVEYOR’S OFFICE, PETERBOROUGH, 4th March, 1897. To the Urban District Council of the City and Borough of Peterborough. Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, I have the honor of presenting to you my Report upon Sanitary Matters which came under my notice during the year ending 31st December last. During the year an Inspection of the Borough was made with a view to ascertaining the number of Water Closets and the condition of them with respect to water supply; it is reported to me that there are 3744 Water Closets, to which the Town's Water is laid on, and 178G without such supply; there are also about 60 privies, 19 of which are connected with houses situate at Cemetery Road, Woodstone. As the Water Main and Sewer have not been put down in that Road, there are at present no means of remedying this; steps, how¬ ever, are being taken in the matter; action is also being taken with respect to the conversion into Water Closets of the other privies above referred to; they are all situate at a distance from any Dwelling-house. The Medical Officer and myself have made systematic inspections of those parts of the Borough in which nuisances are most likely to occur. We have come across many dirty and overcrowded Dwelling-houses, immediate action was taken, and eventually the causes of complaint were removed. During the year the erection of wooden buildings, many of them in very contracted yards of Dwelling-houses, became very troublesome; the action taken by you about two months ago has been the means of stopping this dangerous practice. A considerable number of offensive Pig Styes, several of which were situate very near to Dwelling-houses and Public Streets, have again been a source of much trouble; as stated in my report of last year, the adoption of Bye Laws regu¬ lating the matter is very desirable. Several dirty cow sheds on premises, where milk is sold, have come under inspection; immediate steps were taken in these cases. Additional Sewer Ventilators have been fixed, and more are in hand ; the flushing of the Sewers has been attended to The adoption by you of the “ Private Street Works Act ” gives increased facilities for dealing with unsanitary areas; Goodyer’s Yard has been dealt with under its clauses, and is now a Public Highway; the cleansing of the Yard, and the consequent better supervision of the premises connected therewith, is in the hands of the Authority. The systematic removal of House refuse has been efficiently attended to, 4173 loads of stuff have been removed during the year. 73 Houses and 2 Public Schools have been disinfected, and the Disinfecting Stove used on 34 occasions. The erection of the proposed Isolation Hospital will prove of great Service to the Town, and often be the means of preventing the spread of Infections Diseases. I am glad to state that there has been no occasion to use the Small Pox Hospital. I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, J. W. WALSHAW. Sanitary Inspector.