There was little talk and much action at the Rushden Urban District Council’s meeting on Wednesday. Further batches of houses were planned, and some of the homes will be for families displaced by the “slum clearance” schemes.
Little space now remains on the building land owned by the Council, and when the houses mentioned on Wednesday are erected all the streets on the Irchester-road estate will be fully built-up.
The policy of dealing with unfit houses in the older parts of the town resulted in some further demolition orders, but in several cases property owners who had attended meetings of the Health and Sanitary Committee made offers – which were accepted – to reconstruct cottages or not re-let them for human habitation.
Other business included the receipt of the Fire Brigade’s report, which warned the Council that a motor-pump, equipped with an escape, will soon be necessary; the King’s Jubilee arrangements; and a proposal – readily accepted – that Rushden should have an additional County Council member. A plan for lighting Higham-road, High-street and Bedford-road by centrally suspended lamps was also mentioned.
Tenders for the erection of 10 parlour three-bedroom houses and 16 non-parlour three-bedroom houses on the vacant land abutting Irchester-road were accepted at follows: R. Marriott, Rushden, 10 houses, £4,544; W. Thompson and sons, Irthlingborough, 16 houses, £4,712. Sanction was sought for a loan of £9,315 to cover the outlay.
Eleven houses – nine two-bedroom non-parlour and two three-bedroom non-parlour – were required to rehouse the tenants of houses to be demolished under Section 19 of the Housing Act, 1930, and the Surveyor was instructed to prepare plans and invite tenders for the construction of these houses on the Irchester-road estate.
The Surveyor was also instructed to prepare plans and invite tenders for 11 houses of the three-bedroom non-parlour type in order to fill up vacant spaces in Westfield-avenue (2), Tennyson-road (4), and a vacant plot at the rear of the north side of Highfield-road (5).
A short length of road will be necessary for the houses at the rear of Highfield-road, and the Surveyor is to obtain the necessary tenders.
Mr. Coles: I should like to know whether this will complete the housing estate.
Mr. Roe: Yes, I think it will complete the houses on the roads that have been made.
Mr. Spencer: When these odd places have been filled up I think the next move should be to complete the estate altogether. I don’t know how much land there is – very likely enough for 40 or 50 houses – but I think arrangements should be made to make the roads and complete the estate altogether.
The Chairman: The committee will bear that in mind at the next meeting.
Complaint Against Builders
Attention was called to the slow progress of the houses in course of erection by Messrs. Hacksley Bros. on the Irchester-road estate, and the Clerk was instructed to inform the firm that unless a speedy improvement was forthcoming the Council would take action under their contract.
For 66 houses in Highfield-road the Council fixed the net rent at 6s. 3d. per week, making the annual rate contribution £2 6s. per house.
The Clerk was instructed to serve notice to quit on two house tenants who were in arrears with their rents.
Residents in Irchester-road and Newton-road complained of damage to their front gardens from overhanging trees, and the Surveyor was instructed to have some of the trees lopped. In cases where the trees overhung telephone wires it was understood that the Post Office engineer would do what was necessary.
A large batch of building plans was made up as follows: Two houses, Prospect-avenue, Messrs. T. Swindall and sons; bungalow, Birchall-road, Messrs. T. Swindall and Sons; two bungalows, St. Margaret’s-avenue, Messrs. M. M. Drabble; 20 houses, St. Margaret’s-avenue, Messrs. M. M. Drabble; alterations and additions to 114, High-street, Messrs. Clark Bros.; extension to factory in Spencer-road, Messrs. Sanders and Sanders Ltd.; Warehouse, Alfred-street, Mr. W. Neville; wooden garage, 28, Glassbrook-road, Mr. T. Partridge; wooden shed, Wellingborough-road, Messrs. J. and C. Claridge, Ltd.; cycle shed at factory in Station-road, Messrs. B. Denton and Son, Ltd.
Skinners Hill Dangers
Regarding the completion of the proposed improvement near Mrs. J. Claridge’s house in Wellingborough-road, a letter from the County Surveyor indicated that there was no immediate prospect of the work being carried out. The Highways Committee reported that the site was very dangerous, and they were now asking the County Surveyor for the provision of a temporary footpath.
Mr. Coles said he wished to call the special attention of the Council to this matter. They felt that the land in front of the wall near Mrs. Claridge’s house was a dangerous spot. Children on their way to school were bound to cross the road, and when they reached the top of the hill they had to cross it again. The committee were pressing the County Council to have something done there.
At the suggestion of Messrs. A. Sanders, Ltd., the new road which is an extension of Park-avenue received the name of Talbot-road.
Upon receipt of the Ministry of Transport’s regulations and directions about pedestrian crossings the Highways Committee saw no reason to revise the scheme already prepared by them and approved by the Minister. They agreed to wait for further regulations promised by the Ministry before putting the scheme into operation.
Six More Demolitions
Several Other Houses to be Put in Order
A long report on faulty properties to be dealt with under the Housing Act, 1930, came from the Health and Sanitary Committee, following two special meetings. The committee’s arrangements – all confirmed by the Council – were as follows:-
6, Mannings-lane. - Demolition order, with period of eight months allowed.
3 and 5, High-street South. - Owner undertook to convert the two houses into one.
9, High-street South. - Owner agreed that on vacation of present tenancy the house would be added to adjoining property.
32, High-street South. - To be vacated within eight months and not used again for human habitation.
17, Woburn-place. - To be rendered fit for habitation within six months.
18, Woburn-place. - Not to be used for human habitation after vacation of present tenancy.
19, Woburn-place. - To be vacated within eight months and not used again for human habitation.
35 and 37, Little-street. - To be rendered fit within six months.
19, High-street South. - No further action at present if owner gives undertaking that on vacation of present tenant the house is not used for human habitation.
6 and 8, Little-street. - To be rendered fit within eight months.
10 and 12, Montague-street. - To be converted into one and rendered fit within eight months.
5, Dayton-street. - To be vacated within eight months and not used again for human habitation.
41, 43, 45, 47, and 49, Little-street. - To be demolished, with period of eight months allowed.
It was decided to purchase a second-hand horse-propelled van, offered for £5 15s., for the conveyance of infected bedding, etc. An offer for “the necessary horse hire” at 1s. 9d. per hour was also accepted.
Mr. Sawford: Is the 1s. 9d. an hour for the hire of the horse and the man as well?
Mr. Richardson: I understand it is, from the form that was sent to us.
Mr. Wilmott. That’s sweating!
A Member: Does he mean the horse or the man? (Laughter.)
A notice was ordered to be served on the owners of premises in Duck-street where the Sanitary Inspector has reported a nuisance caused by an excessive accumulation of leather waste.
Jubilee Celebrations
A letter from the Lord Lieutenant contained the County proposals in connection with the King’s Jubilee. These were that all local authorities in the county should subscribe to a loyal address and that a volume, “The Reign of Queen Elizabeth” (suggested by the county’s close connection with that reign) should be presented to Their Majesties. There will also be an official thanksgiving service at Peterborough Cathedral on May 12, but local authorities will be free to arrange their own thanksgiving services.
With reference to local arrangements Mr. Allebone suggested that a meeting should be called to appoint officials to arrange celebrations on the same principle as previously. It was usual, he said, to hold an old folks’ tea and sports for the children, with something to commemorate the occasion. The meeting would decide the question of making a collection and other matters.
Moving that this be done, Mr. Spencer said it had been done on previous occasions and had proved very satisfactory.
It was agreed to call a representative meeting at the Council chamber on Monday, March 4.
Fire Brigade’s Warning
The annual report of the fire Brigade, forwarded by Chief Officer R. F. Knight, stated that the personnel of the brigade remained unchanged, and all members continued to work enthusiastically, all drills being well attended. During 1934 the brigade attended 14 fires – two at private houses, two at shoe factories, two at outside buildings, three at retail shops in High-street, two chimney fires and three stack fires. One or two of the outbreaks would certainly have been serious but for the prompt attention of the brigade.
Mr. Knight added that in the near future the question of the motor tender would call for the Council’s attention. The tender had been in service some considerable time and at the outset was not entirely new; consequently they had reached the time when repairs and renewals were continually required. The time was coming when the Council would have to dispose of the present steamer and tender and obtain a motor pump in conjunction with an escape. The brigade at the present time would be seriously handicapped if called to a fire at some of the buildings without an escape in connection with a motor pump, the present escape being too unwieldy and short.
The Chairman said they could congratulate the brigade and the Chief Officer on the excellent work they had done during the year. The latter part of the report had better be referred to the appropriate committee. - This was agreed to.
At the suggestion of Mr. Sawford it was decided that future reports from the fire Brigade should be circulated to the Council members.
County Proposals
No exception was taken to the County Council’s new arrangements for administering the Poor Law Act, 1930. Rushden will still form part of the Wellingborough area, and the Council will still nominate three members of the Area Committee.
Through their solicitors Messrs. W. Packwood and Son denied liability for damage to a lamp standard in High-street near a new shop they were constructing, but the Council decided to institute proceedings against Messrs. Packwood for the recovery of the cost of repair, which was £13/1/10.
In reply to a letter from the County Council, asking for the Rushden Council’s views on a town and country planning report, the Clerk was instructed to write that the Council had not considered any scheme for the promotion of town planning in Rushden, and preferred to await the County Council’s proposals before doing so.
Approval was given to the proposals of a County Council committee regarding the review of the county electoral divisions under the Local Government Act, 1929. The report proposed that Rushden should have an additional County Council member, as from October 15 next, making three in all. There would thus be members for the East, South and West wards.
Mr. Capon remarked that this dealt with a sore point which had been discussed for a number of years.
Cheaper Loans
The Finance Committee further considered the question of the interest at present payable on the various loans which had been raised subject to a six months’ redemption clause. The present rate of interest paid was 4 per cent., and having regard to the low figure at which loans could now be negotiated, with the rate definitely fixed for the whole period, recommended the Council to instruct the Clerk to give six months notice of repayment, as from March 1 next, to each of the lenders concerned. It was understood that no action would be taken where the Mortgages agreed to accept interest at the rate of 3½ per cent., fixed for the outstanding period of their loans.
Mr. Capon observed that it was time to act in this matter, and the Council agreed.
Mr. Allebone and the Clerk were appointed to attend the annual conference of the Urban district Councils Association at Clacton-on-Sea in June.
The Clerk reported that on appeal the rateable value of the Free Library had been reduced from £78 to £60.
The Council was informed that Mr. H. B. Holyoak, of the Rates Department, had been appointed Assistant Rating and Valuation Officer to the Caterham Urban District Council, and Mr. Capon remarked that they were always pleased when members of their staff obtained better positions. Herbert Kenneth Clayton, aged 15, of 37, Pratt-road, Rushden, was appointed to fill the vacancy.
When the report of the Gas Examiner had been heard Mr. Spencer complained of the gas supply in the early mornings.
The Clerk: It is not the pressure he tests – it is the calorific value.
Sites For Churches
The Ministry of Health gave sanction to the sale of building plots to the trustees of the Park-road Baptist Church and the Parochial Church Council of St. Peter’s.
Mr. Richardson was re-elected as the Council’s representative on the After-Care Committee.
The Council afterwards met in committee to consider a sub-committee’s proposals, with estimates, for lighting the whole of the A6 road, from the Higham Ferrers boundary to Mannings-lane, by centrally suspended lamps.
Members in attendance were Messrs. J. Allen, J.P., (Chairman), A. Allebone, J.P., C.C. (Vice-Chairman), J. White, J. Roe, F. Green, D. G. Greenfield, M.D., W. E. Capon, A. Wilmott, J. Spencer, J.P., J. E. Dilks, G. W. Coles, J.P., W. J. Sawford, J. Hornsby, E. A. Sugars, and J. T. Richardson. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs. L. Perkins, J. S. Denton and T. W. Cox.
