[Report 1945] / Medical Officer of Health, Newquay (Cornwall) Town & U.D.C.

  • Newquay (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1945
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1945] / Medical Officer of Health, Newquay (Cornwall) Town & U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/18 (page 1)
    KEWQUAY ANNUAL HEALTH REPORT FOR THE YEAR 194g 0 The Chairman and Members of the NEWQUAY URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL. Gentlemen, Herewith I beg to present my 20th Annual Report on the Health and Sanitary Conditions of Newquay during the Year 1945. . It. is an interim Report, and is drawn up on the lines laid down by the Ministry of Health in Circulars 49/45, and 28/46. . * ... , ' . . c ’ r Section a. S_tatistics and Social Conditions of the Area. Area (in acres) 5,000 acres. Population. The figure given by the Registrar General as his mid-1945 estimate of the population is 9,742. This is a drop of 1,008 on the previous year’s . estimate; and of 1,658 on the mid-1943 estimate. Number of Inhabitsd Houses (end of 1945) according to Rate Book * = 2,603 Rateable Value = £ 1147 8 2 Sum represented by a Penny Rate = £440. S ocia1 C onditions. Social Conditions have remained substantially the same as in War Years. Reversion to Peace Time conditions, as in the pre- War years is taking a long time, chiefly due to the shortage of labour. The end of the 'rar was followed by holiday rush, in which Newquay was filled to its utmost capacity, in spite of many Hotels and buildings still being requisitioned. In spite of the population of the town being at its peak, with its consequent evils of overcorwding and a certain degree of limitation of food and fuel, the Health of the town has been very satisfactory. When one takes a look at other Health Resorts, I think that Newquay must consider herself as being amongst the fortunate ones, with the Dice loaded in her favour. The town presents an aspect of well-being, with the majority of buildings having had at least one coat of paint; and there are no unsightly areas of bomb-damaged houses, nor jungle-like gardens of empty houses to be seen as in many another health Resort. We seem to be at least one jumpahead; and with foresight, it would seem that we shall maintain the jump ahead, as long as we get down at once to the real necessities for the maintainence of the good health record we have held in the past. Unfortun¬ ately I must repeat what I wrote in the Annual Report for last year, and for several years, the chief necessity in arrf Health Resort is a clean Bill of Health, and if this town is to be free of worry, in this respect I put as the most imperative work in the immediate future, the provision of Main Water Supply, and Main Drainage to Crantock, Tregurrian, all those outlying parts of Newquay that have not yet got what, after all, are the ordinary decencies of life. The population is estimated at about 10,000; but in the summer the population may well be in the region of 20,000. Modified Housing Schemes are in progress, but the demc^nd for houses is acute, and will no doubt be met in due course. This' will entail a further strain on the Main Drainage System of the town, which is already severely taxed, and I hope that at the first opportunity, the Scheme for the improved Main Drainage, postponed in 1939, will have priority amongst the works so necessary for the future Health of the Town. Possibly also the time is ripe to consider the scrapping of the various irrigation and sewage farms in the outer parts of Newquay; and to bring ourselves more up i, to date by developing a Septic Tank system of sewage disposal and by so doing to remove a certain amount of nuisance that is bound to increase as Newquay grows.