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CLEAN AIR
Smoke Control Area
At the beginning of the year the Council made a successful
application to the Minister of Housing and Local Government for
approval in principle to the establishment of a Control
Area of 1,025 acres in the southern end of the Borough. The
detailed survey of this area continued throughout the year and
at the end of December was nearing completion. It is anticipated
that a Smoke Control Order in respect of this Area, which is one
of the largest proposed smoke control areas in the country, will
become operative on the 1st October, 1960.
Dark Smoke (Permitted Periods) Regulations, 1958
These Regulations, which were made by the Minister under
the provisions of Section 1 (2) of the Clean Air Act, 1950, came
into operation on the Ist June, 1958. They prohibit the continuous
emission of dark smoke from any chimney, caused
otherwise than by soot-blowing, for a period exceeding four
minutes; or the emission of black smoke for more than two
minutes in the aggregate in any period of 30 minutes. " Black
Smoke" is defined by the Regulations as smoke which, if
compared in the appropriate manner with the Ringelmann
Chart, would appear to be as dark or darker than shade four
on the chart.
New Furnaces
Under Section 3 of the Clean Air Act, 1950, application may
be made to the local authority for prior approval to the installation
of a furnace. Two such applications were received during the
year, and as the Council were satisfied that the plans and specifications
were for furnaces which were capable of being operated
continuously without emitting smoke when burning fuel of a
type for which the furnaces were designed approval was given in
each case.
Industrial Survey
This survey of all the industrial and domestic heating
plants in the Borough with an output of 55,000 B.T.U.'s or