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H.—3l

Health Week : This was held in October, and was very successful. It is estimated that some ten thousand people attended lectures, exhibitions, demonstrations, &c., at the Town Hall. The health talks to shops and factories by medical men constituted, possibly, the most valuable feature of the campaign. Rat Nuisance : During the year 357 rats were caught on ships and 474 on the wharves ; all were examined for plague. I tender my thanks to the Harbour Board for their most helpful co-operation in this matter. Measures taken by the City Council were unsatisfactory. The Council's rat-catcher has now been placed under the Chief Sanitary Inspector, with considerable improvement in results. I advise the adoption of the Auckland system, in which no charge is made to the occupier. By-laws : The city sanitary and health by-laws are being consolidated. Food Premises (City) : New by-laws have been adopted, providing for registration, &c. A gradual improvement is taking place. It is proving a difficult matter to remodel some of the existing unsuitable premises. lam urging the City Council to license private boardinghouses. Difficulty has been experienced in controlling the sale of fruit by Indian hawkers in the streets. Some prosecutions have recently been taken, with improved results. Lower Hutt.—The population of this borough and that of Petone is increasing by leaps and bounds. General sanitation good and efficiently carried out. Town-planning: This borough is probably the first in New Zealand to produce a town-planning scheme. An area of 200 acres has been set aside at the mouth of the Hutt River as an industrial area, and 250 acres will in addition be reclaimed in the course of time. This industrial area is destined to become perhaps the most important industrial locality in the Dominion. The closest co-operation exists between the Medical Officer of Health and the Council with regard to town-planning, &c., and other important matters in the borough. Housing : New dwellings erected for the year, 395. The largest housing scheme in the Dominion is being effected in this borough. The scheme is undoubtedly doing much to solve the housing problem in the Wellington metropolitan area. Lower Hutt is eight miles from Wellington by rail, and with the construction of a special railway-deviation, and by concession fares to serve the settlement, workers in the city will be well served. Brief details of the scheme are as hereunder : The Government purchased 700 acres of land. Commencement was made in 1926 with 75 acres, divided into Jth - acre sections. Concurrently, streets were laid out by the Council's staff with the aid of financial grants from the Lands Department, building proceeding at the same time. Finance for house-building is found by the State Advances Department. The Hutt Housing Committee generally supervises the scheme, accepts designs, finds the material, &c.. and lets all contracts. There are some eighteen to twenty different contracts. No contractor finds material, but the quantity of all such is scheduled to prevent waste. A certain proportion of the houses are factory-cut and transported from the Government house-factory at Frankton Junction. Ownership of these houses is being acquired on the average of a cost of £1 2s. per week. This will in thirty-four years pay principal and interest. The cost of each house (five rooms, all conveniences, land, concrete paths, fences) is £895 to £910. One hundred and twenty-seven of these houses were occupied in less than a year, with an average of four children per home. Within the next twelve months it is hoped to have three hundred houses completed. The area is to be known as Moera Garden Settlement. The whole undertaking is carried out on approved town-planning principles. To Mr. Strand, Mayor of Lower Hutt, the father of the scheme, I am indebted for the more exact details. Petone.—Sanitary conditions good. The water-supply (artesian and upland surface) is satisfactory : 9,051 ft. of additional water-reticulation has been provided during the year. Administration: An assistant is to be provided for the Sanitary Inspector. This borough is much too large for one Inspector to perform sanitary work and also to be expected to attend to other matters, such as traffic. Care is necessary with regard to situation of factories in this borough. Eastbourne.—Water and Drainage : A water and drainage scheme is an urgent necessity. In November I personally interviewed the Council upon the question. Financial difficulties were such, however, as to preclude the undertaking. In January and February of last summer the rainfall was 0-68 in. and 1-82 in., as against the mean 3-31 in. and 3-20 in. for sixty-six years. The plight of young families depending upon tank-water alone could only be prejudicial to health. lam watching the matter very closely, with a view to drastic action, if required. Day's Bay. —Although Day's Bay is part of the Hutt County, the locality, in company with Eastbourne, adjoining, is in urgent need of water and drainage. Day's Bay and other eastern bays should, if possible, obtain water from the City Council main at Waiwetu. The matter has been, and is being, represented to the Hutt County Council, with a view to joint action by the county and the Eastbourne Borough Council for the provision in the very near future of a water-supply. Sale of Food and Drugs Act. Wellington being the principal port of entry for imports and a large distributing centre, a great deal of work has been performed with regard to the Act and regulations. In conjunction with the Government Analyst much valuable work is carried out. T ce-cream Manufacture. —In Wellington City I recently visited the more important premises where this article is manufactured. Our requirements have been instrumental in practically eliminating the manufacture of ice-cream by small vendors. It is thus possible to gradually attain a higher standard in the remaining factories. This work is being continued and improvements effected as opportunity offers. Eating-houses. —During the year the Medical Officer of Health paid various visits of inspection in company with the City Council officers. The regulations are' again proving effective in improving conditions, and unsuitable premises are gradually being eliminated or improved.

6—H. 31,

41

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