[Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Blackburn R.D.C.

  • Blackburn (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1948
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1948] / Medical Officer of Health, Blackburn R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/24 (page 6)
    HOUSING. In common with all housing authorities in the country, apphca- tions for council houses far exceed the number erected. On the 3ist December, 1948, there were 106 council houses in the area. The number of apphcants on the waiting list at the end of the year was 234 and the number of houses in course of construction was 44. The completion of the housing survey of the district disclosed 451 (16.87%) working class dwellings, out of a total of 2673 surveyed, as being unfit for habitation and beyond repair at a reasonable expense. It will be seen therefore by adding the number of unfit houses to the number of applicants for new houses that there are 685 inadequately housed families. What this figure represents in terms of human un- happiness and chronic ill-health can only be surmised. The enforced neglect of the repair of dwelling houses due to post-war conditions is now very apparent. The housing survey dis- closed 847 (31.69%) dwellings with minor defects and 737 (27.57%) dwellings requiring repairs or structural alterations. DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE. There are seven separate Sewage Disposal Works in the area serving the major parts of the parishes of Livesey, Billington, Pleasing- ton and Wilpshire and parts of Salesbury, Clayton-le-Dale, Yate Bank and Balderstone. Langho Colony is also served by these works. The method of treatment adopted is by preliminary sedimentation, septic tanks and sprinkler filtration or by land irrigation. A comprehensive scheme for extensions and new sewage dis- posal works costing £1^0,000 which was prepared by the Council’s Consultant Engineer has been approved in principle by the Council. The Engineer is proceeding with a scheme for the sewering of Copster Green and for the construction of a new sewage disposal works for the treatment of sewage from Billington, Copster Green, Langho, Langho Colony and a part of Wilpshire. The proposals include the provision of sewers for 40 new houses at Brockhall Institution and part of the hospital buildings. The estimated cost of this scheme is now £66,000. PUBLIC CLEANSING. The collection of household refuse, night soil and salvage in almost ithe whole of the District was continued by the Council’s own men and vehicles, the only parts which are now done by the contract system are those where the bad condition of the roads prohibits the use of motor vehicles. The Cleansing and Salvage service was carried out with extreme difficulty owing to the use of vehicles which, under normal standards, had exceeded their life. The continual breakdowns arising from the use of second hand vehicles expose the service to criticism. Although two Dennis refuse collecting vehicles were ordered early in the year 1947 it was not until the month of October that the first vehicle was delivered.