London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Brentford and Chiswick 1957

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Brentford and Chiswick]

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STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE BOROUGH, 1957

Area in acres (including 116 acres of foreshore of River Thames and 24 acres of inland water)2,449.5
Population - Census 193162,617
Population - Census 195159,367
Population - Registrar-General's Estimate for area (mid 1957).57,700
Number of Inhabited Houses according to Rate Book (April 1957)16,089
Rateable Value at 1.4.1957£1, 169,079
Sum produced by 1d Rate (1956-1957)£5,006

The Borough is divided into nine Wards
BRENTFORD Brentford East
Brentford West
Brentford Central
CHISWICK Chiswick Park
Grove Park
Bedford Park
Gunnersbury
Old Chiswick
Turnham Green
In the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick the eastern half is mainly residential
with a certain number of industrial buildings of the smaller type interspersed
throughout while in the western half there is a highly industrialised
section chiefly situated along the Great West Road There are 630 acres of
open space within the Borough with ample facilities for refreshment and recreation
both for the public in general and for the sporting activities of particular
groups.
The proportion of open space to the total area of the Borough is approximately
25% a very reasonable proportion for an urban area.
The residents of the Borough areof mixed categories including professional
and clerical people of all grades, artisans, factory workers etc. and the
types of dwellings vary from flatted houses and cottages to large detached
residences in their own surrounding grounds. The amount of slum property is
not considerable and progress is now being made with the demolition of houses
which are no longer fit for human habitation. The rehousing of the tenants in
council houses. details concerning assessment of slum dwellings. demolition and
the building of new houses are supplied later in this Report.
In the 1956 Annual Report it was possible to state that the number of known
cases of overcrowding had diminished, and this can again be said in the present
Report. There was a considerable increase in the number of new houses built
by the Council and a slight rise in the number built by private enterprise in
the Borough during 1957 but as the new houses built by the Council were urgently
required for rehousing of tenants from slum clearance areas, no effect was
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