[Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Liskeard R.D.C.

  • Liskeard (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1965
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1965] / Medical Officer of Health, Liskeard R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Refuse Collection. During 1965, house refuse collection was carried out throughout this Rural District, giving a weekly service in most villages and hamlets, fort¬ nightly in a few and monthly in a number of very isolated dwellings. As in the past, each year requests are made for the collection and removal of house refuse from more and more dwellings—even more isolated—and attempts are made to do this, but the service is rapidly approaching the stage when it can be stretched no further. It must be appreciated that new houses are now being erected in this district at the rate of approximately 100 per annum and every one has to be visited, usually every week. Many of these houses are on new estates with new roads to traverse and extra time must be involved. During the year more caravans were permitted at Talland and the service required for this and many other caravan sites is very heavy in the holiday season, it was once thought that the new S. & D. vehicle would have made it possible to avoid overtime for the men, but the additional premises to be served has not made this so. The levelling of dumps and covering the refuse has become more and more necessary and the system of disposal is now semi-controlled. More work has been carried out at the three refuse tips where fortunately good covering material has been made available and a bulldozer has been hired to level and cover from time to time. Another tip will soon be required somewhere in the vicinity of Lan- reath. The present one at Bury Down is three-quarters full, and as it receives loads from Polruan, Lanteglos and the parishes adjoining, which contain a number of villages and hamlets, it can be seen that other arrange¬ ments will soon have to be made. Early in the year a small mechanical street sweeping machine was purchased for use at Polperro and this was used with considerable success during the summer months to keep the streets clean and free from litter. Two small refuse vans, used at Polperro and Polruan, are nearing the end of their useful life and I am recommending that they be replaced during 1966. Due to the very narrow streets—in both of these townships—it is unlikely that any larger vehicles can be used there although it would be of great advantage if this were possible. Litter. The County Highways Department had previously initiated what was termed a “Pilot Litter Scheme” covering the main highway from Sandplace, Morval to the Looe U.D.C. boundary on the east and from the Looe U.D.C. boundary to Polperro on the west. In this, the District Council supplied the litter receptacles and emptied them, arranging for the County to contribute 50% of the cost. In 1965 the Highway Authority used their own refuse van for litter collection in that locality and my own vehicles were not required. In a great many other parts of the district, especially in lay-bys, litter bins or drums were placed and these were emptied by the County and the Rural District vans as required. It is recognised that a few individuals will drop litter anywhere and at any time but I have found that if there are enough litter bins placed at strategic points, the majority of people will use them. The abandoned motor car or body has never been a major problem in this area but I did arrange with several car-breaking firms within the district to collect any abandoned cars and take them for breaking and scrap. This has been very satisfactory indeed and will do much to deal with what in many parts of the country has been a serious detriment to the amenities. Rodent Control. During 1965 the Council has continued to employ a trained rodent operator whose duty is to cover Council property including sewer and refuse tips, private houses, shops and business premises as well as farms.