Existing legislation covering the cost or rural sewerage and water supply and connecting regulations and amendments considered desirable thereto.

Abstract

areas were generally that the two basic public health needs of piped water supplies and main drainage were frequently impossible to provide. Since 1945 the expansion of housing and the need to prevent the drift of labour from the countryside has been such that the rural worker now expects the same amenities as his colleague in the town. Intentions have been good and legislation, particularly the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts, did much to make possible the provision of piped water and main drainage. Good intentions, however, are not always enough, and it is a pity that the excuse of restriction of capital expenditure is delaying necessary work. The word excuse is deliberately used, as it is not easy to reconcile government expenditure in some fields with cuts in the capital programme of rural work. Extensive expenditure is often fought against by the public themselves who would be the main beneficiaries, and this is di$cult to appreciate while there is so much ’ personal spending on private enjoyment. The question now is what could and should be done, and in order to answer that I will set out present legislation as it affects the cost of rural sewerage and water supplies.