CLEANER BACKYARDS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 25, Issue 3761, 27 May 1936, Page 4

CLEANER BACKYARDS

HINT OF COMPULSORY MEASURES.

POSITION VERY UNSATISFACTORY. Complaint was made, on behalf of the Fire Board, at a recent meeting of the Te Awamutu Borough Council that there was grave danger of a serious conflagration in the business areal owing to the laxity of property owners in permitting the accumulation of quantities of inflammable material in backyards and sheds at the back of business premises. The subject was again referred to at Monday evening’s meeting of the Council. The Mayor remarked that the Council’s fire inspector had interviewed most of the business people with a view to getting backyards cleared of rubbish. The position was very unsatisfactory, as some people made various excuses for non-co-operation. It seemed that the only satisfactory solution was some form of compulsory rubbish clearing, applying to the business area and part of the residential area. A private enterprise dealt with clearing some backyards, but owners of other premises would not do their bit.

Cr Brown thought compulsion would be necessary. To Cr North, the Mayor said it was contrary to the by-laws for anybody to sweep rubbish into the street gutters.

Cr Gifford commented that many of the public dropped rubbish in the streets. Wire collecting baskets had been tried, but they were disregarded.