[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hornchurch].

  • Hornchurch (London, England). Urban District Council.
Date:
[1960]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hornchurch]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/54 (page 15)
    15 Routine observations, now in their 12th year—through Deposit Gauges, Lead Peroxide Candles and our Volumetric S02 apparatus— propaganda, investigation of specific complaints of pollution and attendance at meetings of outside bodies concerned with pollution problems, occupy cumulatively a great deal of time. They nevertheless serve to provide a complete picture as well as throwing considerable light on how to secure it. Smoke Control Areas: Our first area in Cranham came into force on 1st September, 1959. It comprised 239 houses, i.e., 224 Council houses, 11 privately owned and 4 Police houses. The Council houses comprise 3-bedroom Cornish Unit and 3-bedroom semi-detached and maisonettes. The area is bounded by Front Lane, Brunswick Avenue and Roseberry Gardens and has an acreage of 34.8. The reasons for choosing this area were given in my 1958 report and need not be recapitulated. It is clear that a relatively negligible number of private houses were involved and the grants approved will therefore be of a minor financial order. Preliminary propaganda brought our intentions to the notice of residents long before the operative date, but a public meeting was nevertheless held adjacent to the area and open to any interested party. In the event more officials than members of the public attended but this clearly indicated the absence of dissatisfaction at our choice of area. No complaints of working difficulties had been received by the end of the year and the only—and natural—reaction elicited from time to time was a feeling that the smokeless air programme having started in part of Cranham should rapidly be extended to the district as a whole. Hornchurch is not a black area as envisaged in Ministry of Housing and Local Government Circular 5/59 but the need to clear the air is imperative even when domestic smoke is the major pollutant. May I in this connection once again repeat that apart from gas. electricity and oil, the solid fuel future in securing smokeless air rests principally with coke and not with the many proprietary fuels of the same general type. The merits of one or the other need not be discussed here, the main point is that coke will be the most readily available for some time to come. Future Areas: The area bounded by Ford Lane, Wood Lane, South End Road and Rainham Road, was tentatively selected as our second venture and —after due enquiry—was submitted to the Minister in mid-year for his preliminary approval.