HH62/2/PEEBLE/7

Transcription

[page] 6

sentenced to imprisonment. The house was, at the
instance of the Sanitary Inspector, properly cleansed.
Again, at Jedderfield, about a mile from the town
of Peebles, a very insanitary house was found. It was
damp, and its condition was due to a badly arranged
basement on a sloping site. This, on being pointed
out to the proprietor, was in an exemplary manner
at once remedied by (1) cutting off all connection with
ground air from below, and freely ventilating to the
outer air a space between the basement and the floor;
and (2) by causing to be constructed a free area
between the back wall and the ground which abutted
high up on the building, thus removing one of the
causes of dampness.
I would here draw attention to the great desirability
of securing for all Local Authorities powers to regulate
the occupation of new buildings. If it were required
that all newly erected buildings (defining the term)
should not be occupied until certified to the Local
Authority as being in a good sanitary state and
properly planned, we should, by a slow but sound
method, ultimately secure one of the greatest wants
of our time - healthy houses. It is almost as cheap
to erect a sanitary dwelling as one that may be most
insanitary, and supervision in this direction is a
desideratum.
The only factories outside the Burghs are at
Walkerburn. Their condition is satisfactory.

[page] 7

I visited the bake-houses, of which there are three
outside the Burghs, Two of these are in West Linton.
In one of the two are employed 2 men and a lad of
16. It has a retail shop in connection, which shop
is in direct communication with the dwelling-house.
This bake-house has a wooden floor, is small, and has
no proper means of ventilation.
The other has employed in it 3 men and a lad of
15. This bake-house is distinct from the retail shop
and from the dwelling-house. It has a tiled floor, and
is clean and well ventilated.
The third bake-house is situated at Walkerburn,
and belongs to the Co-operative Society there. It is
large and airy, though not specially fitted with
artificial ventilators, and its floor is of concrete. It
seems fairly well kept.
As bake-houses are likely centres for the spread
of disease, it is to my mind essential that they should
be under stringent Bye-Laws, and that they should in
every instance be separated from, and have no connec-
tion with, a dwelling-house. The way to secure this is
for Local Authorities to obtain the necessary powers
to frame such; for the existing regulations under the
Statute are too loose and indefinite.
Outside the Burghs there is no lodging-house to
my knowledge that can come under the category
of Common Lodging-houses.'