View report page

HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
227/233, Commercial Road,
Stepney, E.l.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors
of the Metropolitan Borough of
Bethnal Green.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to report on the health and sanitary circumstances
of the Borough for 1964.
This is the last Annual Report for Bethnal Green Council, as
its independent existence will terminate on the 31st March, 1965.
Perhaps this is an opportune time to pause and reflect on what was
achieved over the years since May 1956, when I had the honour to
become Medical Officer of Health for the Borough.
Slum Clearance
I represented 16 Areas for Slum Clearance and, together with
individial Closing Orders dealt with 1,479 properties in this period
which is one-tenth of the total number of dwellings in the Borough.
This is not the sum total of slum clearance activities which so
radically transformed Bethual Green into a pleasantly modernised
area with a surprising number of new dwellings, since it does not
include the slum clearance work of the London County Council.
Clean Air Act. 1956
The implementation of this Act had a very slow start, indeed
in the early days it looked very much as though it would not commence
at all.
The Council was greatly concerned that the price of smokeless
fuel would be an added burden on the finances of the ratepayers,
but, unexpectedly, a change of attitude to Clean Air came about and
I was instructed to proceed with establishing smokeless zones. I
had the advantage of the experience of those Boroughs who had started
earlier.
The Borough was divided into five areas and it was intended to
complete the work in 5 years but subsequently it was found that this
period could be reduced.
The Orders were made as follows:
4