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23
Smoke Control Order covering approximately one-fifth of the Borough
stretching from and including Victoria Park on the North and Meath
Gardens on the South.
When the Minister's confirmation is received there is a
statutory period of six months before the Order can come into operation
and during this period the Council's main task will be to facilitate
the carrying out of adaptations to fireplaces in dwellings within the
Area.
All householders in Area No. 1 were sent during the summer a
circular letter and explanatory leaflet giving them preliminary
notice of the Council's proposals and in the majority of cases
received a personal visit in course of the detailed survey of all
existing domestic heating appliances. Directly confirmation is
received it is intended to send these householders a further letter
notifying them of the action to take to obtain grant aid towards cost
of conversion or adaptation of their fireplaces and enclosing an
application form for this purpose. This grant aid will amount to
7/10ths of approved expenditure on conversions and will be payable
by the Council immediately the work has been done to their satisfaction,
A request was received from the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government that the Council should now consider their domestic smoke
problem as a whole and decide on the smoke control orders that are
needed, in what order of priority they should be made, and how many
years it is likely to take to finish the Job; and that they should
then prepare a phased programme for establishing smoke control areas
over the next five years. This was accordingly done and the Council
submitted to the Minister a programme to make the whole of the Borough
a smoke control area by 1965.
The implementation of the Council's programme of smoke control
areas has already resulted in a great deal of additional duties
being carried out by the Department. These have so far been absorbed
by the existing staff, but this will become increasingly difficult as
soon as No. 1 Order is confirmed when applications will start coming
in for grant aid in respect of the fitting of approved appliances.
The work will also increase with the commencement early next year of