[Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Liskeard Borough.

  • Liskeard (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1957
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1957] / Medical Officer of Health, Liskeard Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    almost a21 premises up to a satisfactory standard as far as equipment is concerned. In such circumstances it should he possib2e to handle, sell, and serve food cleanly hut in this as in most other activities the weak link in the chain is the human being. If owners, managers and employees do not take an intelligent and conscientious interest and pride in their calling the assistance given by well designed and comprehensively equipped premises may well be set at naught. In the sphere of housing the main activity has been confined to the building of houses to replace those being dealt with under slum clearance schemes at Saltash and Torpoint. In Liskeard Borough efforts to acquire a new housing estate site to the east of the town continued. The development of this site will enable a start to be made on sememes for the clearance of many old and unhealthy dwe2linghouses in various parts of the town. Since the end of the war the extension in the use of the caravan for temporary and permanent living accommodation has given rise to some concern. In a holiday area, such as Cornwall is, the demand for temporary accommodation in caravans is very great indeed during the summer months, and much of this is met by caravans assembled in large numbers on camps or sites. Before such sites can be established and laid out for permanent use permission to do so must be obtained under two different heads. In the first place permission under Town and Country Planning legislation is required, and here this is not infrequently refused since collections of caravans are held to be detrimental to the amenities of a locality, and to detract from the landscape value. If the site is large and adjoins a major road carrying a large volume of traffic, considerations related to traffic congestion, and road safety nay determine the refusal of permission for the site. If the necessary planning permission is not forthcoming either directly or on appeal to the Minister the use to which the site can be put for stationing caravans or camping is limited to a period not exceeding 28 consecutive days in a year. In face of such limitations the owner is naturally not inclined to spend more than is absolutely essential to develop and equip the site for the relatively short period of use permitted in any one year. Whereas in a large site permitted by the Planning authority one usually finds permanent sanitary blocks with water-carriage sanitation, good arrangements for collection of refuse and litter, metalled roads, and a neat and tidy lay-out, such is not usually the case in sites which fail to obtain planning permission and where the opportunity to use the site for more than 28 days does not exist. These latter sites display a more temporary make-shift lay out, with the minimum of facilities needed to avoid creating public health nuisances and complaints from visitors using the site. In spite of these drawbacks as compared with the large approved site, very full use can be and is made of these unauthorised sites during the 28 days they are legally permitted to operate, particularly if these 28 days fall during the peak holiday months of July and August. In such circumstances and under heavy pressure by caravans and campers on barely adequate toilet and other facilities, standards of hygiene and sanitation on the site may fall seriously and actual nuisances may be created. It appears to me that if caravan and camp sites fail to satisfy the requirements of planning and public health legislation, then the present loopholes which exist and may even tend to encourage the use of poorly equipped and unsuitable sites in an irresponsible manner dictated only by the profit motive should be closed by appropriate legislative measures. Whatever ones personal view about caravanning and camping, there is no doubt that as a means of holiday making it has increased greatly in recent years and must be accepted and catered for. In the interests of those v/ho take their holiday in this way, and the local residents of localities containing camping and caravan sites, it seems essential that proper safeguards for the maintenance of good standards of hygiene, preservation of the appearance and amenities of countryside and coastline, and against the aggravation of local road traffic problems should be so written into the law of the land as to do away with present anomalies in this subject. Apart from some building at Saltash and Torpoint to meet the needs of families who have to move from premises in slum clearance areas there has not been a great deal of activity in housebuilding by District Councils in the Health Area. Negotiations for the acquisition of land at Liskeard to accommodate a new housing estate for the Borough of Liskeard continued throughout the year. Until a start can be made on the development of this estate it is impossible to make any start on slum clearance schemes in the older parts of the town. The Minister of Housing and Local Government has recently reminded Looal Authorities of the need io cater for retired and elderly people in their housing programmes. In the post-war anxiety to provide housing for families with young children the special requirements oi elderly folk were generally overlooked, and many have continued to live in old sub-