BYELAWS with respect to

TENTS, VANS, SHEDS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES USED FOR HUMAN HABITATION

BYELAWS

Made under Section 268 (4) of the Public Health Act 1936, by the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Shrewsbury acting by the Council, with respect to:-

TENTS, VANS, SHEDS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES USED FOR HUMAN HABITATION

1. In these byelaws:-

"the Council" means the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Shrewsbury acting by the Council.
"the district" means the Borough of Shrewsbury
"infectious disease" means small-pox, cholera, diphtheria, membranous croup, erysipelas, puerperal pyrexia, the disease known as scarlatina or scarlet fever, and the fevers known by any of the following names, typhus or relapsing typhoid, paratyphoid and other salmonella infections, acute primary pneumonia, acute influenzal pneumonia, ophthalmia neonatorum, plague, acute poliomyelitis, acute encephalitis, meningococcal infection, malaria, dysentery including amoebic and bacillary dysentery and tuberculosis;
 "the Medical Officer of Health" means the Medical Officer of Health for the district, or any legally qualified medical practitioner lawfully authorised to act on his behalf;
"the occupier" in relation to a tent, van, shed or similar structure used for human habitation means the person who for the time being has the charge, management, or control of such tent, van, shed or structure;
"the occupier" in relation to land which is not let means the owner.
 
2. The occupier of a tent, van, shed, or similar structure used for human habitation shall:-

(a) when it is so used:-

(i) maintain it so as to be reasonably weatherproof
(ii) provide it with a suitable dry flooring, or other dry covering for the ground;
(iii) cause all solid or liquid filth to be removed therefrom as soon as practicable;
(iv) cause every vessel, utensil or other receptacle used for containing or removing any solid or liquid filth to be sufficiently cleansed immediately after it is emptied;
(v) not deposit or cause to be deposited any solid or liquid filth within forty feet from the tent, van, shed or structure, or from any dwellinghouse except in a proper receptacle;
(vi) not deposit or cause to be deposited any solid or liquid filth or any litter or rubbish in any place so as to cause a nuisance;

(b) if the use requires the grant of a licence under Section 269 of the Public Health Act 1936, or the grant of permission to develop land under Part III of the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, whether or not the tent, van, or similar structure is regularly used for human habitation when it is so used:-

(i) except in the case of a tent, provide it with adequate means of ventilation;
(ii) provide a sufficient supply of wholesome water for the use of the inmates of the tent, van, shed or structure;
(iii) in the case of a van cause the internal surface and the floor to be thoroughly cleansed as often as may be necessary;

and if the tent, van or similar structure used for human habitation is regularly so used shall:-

(iv) provide it with a sufficient and accessible receptacle for the storage of water and keep such receptacle in good repair, thoroughly clean and properly covered;
(v) provide a sufficient receptacle for refuse;

and also if the tent, van or similar structure is used regularly for human habitation or is placed on a site which is regularly used for the placing of such tents, vans or similar structures, shall:-

(vi) deposit broken glass, bottles, tins, litter or other refuse in the receptacle or place provided for the same, and
(vii) maintain in good order and in a reasonably clean and wholesome condition any privy accommodation for which he is responsible;

3. The occupier of a tent, van, shed or similar structure used for human habitation who is aware that any inmate thereof is suffering from an infectious disease shall adopt all reasonable precautions ordered by the Medical Officer of Health for preventing the spread of the disease, and, if he is the occupier of a tent or van:-

(a) shall, if the Medical Officer of Health orders the removal of the tent or van from any site, remove it to some other site within the district to which it may lawfully be removed; 
(b) shall not, without the consent of the Medical Officer of Health, remove the tent or van from the site on which it may be until it has been disinfected or disinfested.

4. The occupier of any land who allows any tent, van, shed or similar structure used for human habitation to be erection on, brought on to or used on such land shall:-

(a) notwithstanding anything in paragraph (b) (ii) of byelaw 2, provide in some suitable place readily accessible from the tent, van, shed or similar structure, if it is not otherwise so provided or available, a sufficient supply of wholesome water for the use of the inmates of the tent, van, shed or structure;
 (b) if nuisance is likely to arise from the want of privy accommodation, or means for the disposal of waste water or of a receptacle for refuse for the use of the inmates of the t4ent, van, shed or similar structure, provide in some suitable place readily accessible from the tent, van, shed or similar structure, sufficient privy accommodation, adequate means for the disposal of waste water, or a sufficient covered receptacle for refuse as the case may be, and shall maintain the same in good repair and order and in a reasonable clean and wholesome condition;

 Provided that this byelaw shall not apply where a site, including the ground within twenty feet of it on every side, is not occupied by a tent, van, shed or similar structure for longer than forty-eight hours in the aggregate within any continuous period of seven days.

5. The occupier of any land who allows any tent, van, shed, or similar structure used for human habitation to be erected on, brought on to or used on such land shall as often as may be necessary for the prevention of nuisance on that land, clear ditches, hedge bottoms, and bushes of any broken glass, bottles, tins, litter or other refuse;

Penalties

6. Every person who shall offend against any of the foregoing byelaws shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds, and in the case of a continuing offence to a further fine not exceeding forty shillings for each day during which the offence continues after conviction therefor.