View report page

111
Apart from the Plough Road Improvement Extension Scheme
(vide p. 115) no new workmen's dwellings were erected by the Council
in 1930.
Nineteen houses were erected by private enterprise during
the year as under:—
Gowrie Road 2 houses
Holmside Road 7 ,,
Nightingale Lane 6 „
Thurleigh Avenue 4 „
Total 19 „
Housing Act 1930.
The Housing Act, 1930, came into operation on the 16th
August, 1930, and the following is a brief resume of a memorandum
on the Act issued by the Ministry of Health.
The Act has as its main objects the simplification of procedure
and the facilitating of slum clearance (Clearance Areas) and
the prevention of the creation of new slums by arresting the
deterioration of other areas (Improvement Areas).
The definition of a Clearance Area is substantially the same
as that of an Unhealthy Area under previous legislation. The
area is to be cleared by (i) requiring the owners to demolish
the buildings, or (ii) by the Local Authority purchasing the
Area and then arranging for demolition. The first method,
which is a novel one, is designed to enable a local authority
to secure the clearance of a slum area without being obliged
to incur the heavy capital expense of purchase and clearance
and one which may often be found convenient if the site is not
required for rehousing. In such a case the local authority may
make a Clearance Order which requires confirmation by the
Minister of Health. The cleared site will remain the property
of the owners but it may not be used for building purposes or
otherwise developed except subject to such restrictions and
conditions, if any, as the local authority may impose. The Act,
moreover, provides that if the site is not developed in accordance
with plans previously approved by the local authority, within
18 months after the Clearance Order becomes operative, the
right to purchase the land by the Local Authority is reserved.
The procedure in the case of Clearance Areas dealt with
under the second method has been simplified. There is now
no necessity for a formal scheme. The local authority is enabled
to buy the area, either by agreement or by compulsion, but
in the latter case confirmation by the Minister of Health is
required. Having acquired the property the local authority
must proceed with the demolition of the buildings. They may,
however, dispose of the site as cleared, or, subject to a require-