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

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Camberwell 1956

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell.

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Department to have complete information of all industrial
premises so that attention can be directed immediately to those
where the heating plant is considered to be least satisfactory.
With regard to those provisions of the Act which empower
a local authority to make an order declaring the whole or any
part of its district as a smoke control area, the Committee had
already given some consideration to this matter and had provisionally
designated an area in the north west part of the Borough
bounded by Camberwel Road, Camberwell Church Street,
Peckham Road, Southampton Way and New Church Road.
This area contains the L.C.C. Picton Street housing site
and also the Borough Council's Camberwell House site, so that
a large proportion of it will consist of newly-built flats owned
and controlled by a local authority. As, however, much of this
area may be developed within the next few years, expenditure
may not be justified in adapting or installing firegrates to burn
smokeless fuel in properties with a very limited life.
Two other areas were therefore brought to the Committee's
attention for consideration as Smoke Control Areas, viz :—
(a) The southern tip of the Borough bounded by Lordship
Lane, Court Lane, Turney Road and the Borough
boundary. There is no heavy industry in this area, and
it contains a considerable number of local authorityowned
properties (Kingswood, Lordship Lane, Croxted
Road and Sydenham Hill Estates); moreover, little
or none of it is likely to be developed in the near future.
(b) An area bounded by Evelina Road, Nunhead Lane,
Peckham Eye West, Forest Hill Road and the Borough
boundary. This contains a considerable expanse of
open space (two Cemeteries, Peckham Eye and Park,
Golf Course, One Tree Hill and the Waterworks grounds).
The Memorandum on Smoke Control Areas issued by the
Ministry of Housing and Local Government states —" the
establishment of smoke control areas will necessarily be gradual;
it will need to be undertaken in stages, over a period of years
in the larger towns. Progress will be governed by the supply
of smokeless fuels, the rate at which appliances can be converted
or replaced and the rate at which local authorities are able to
formulate and carry through their smoke control plans
The procedure for establishing a Smoke Control Area is a
very lengthy one ; the application to the Minister for confirmation
of the order would involve a detailed survey of every
property in the area to ascertain the number of appliances which
would require to be converted or replaced and the preparation
of an estimate of the cost of such work.