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14
GENERAL INFORMATION AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS
Whether it should be the purpose of a civilized country to strive
for the extension or elimination of social services is a matter of
polemics but it must be conceded that, in any society, the establishment
and implementation of a community health policy is
bound to have due regard to the social circumstances of that
particular section of the population to which it is directed. Present
social circumstances are the result of the impact of past history,
both political and economic, upon the lives and environment of
inhabitants, modified, as appropriate, by the extent to which a
community can afford or is prepared to allocate its various
resources to such purposes. It is the aim of these introductory
pages to supply, in abbreviated form, such background information
as will enable a more objective view to be taken of the Borough
and its problems.
Following a report to Parliament in October, 1960, by an ad hoc
Commission, re-organisation of the Metropolis was effected by
the London Government Act of 1963 and a Greater London
Council was created, together with 32 London Boroughs, the City
and Temples. Twelve of these are designated Inner London
Boroughs, of which Greenwich is one, and, on 1st April, 1965,
under the title of the London Borough of Greenwich, the previous
Metropolitan Boroughs of Greenwich and Woolwich were united.
Amalgamation of these two areas (with the exclusion of North
Woolwich) has resulted in the formation of a Borough which is
second to none in historical associations and with interests of
more than usual diversity.
Few residential districts near the City of London are so full of
historical associations as Greenwich, whose streets are among the
most interesting of any in the capital and whose wealth of surviving
buildings is unrivalled. History has played a large part in determining
the types of industries located within its boundary with
their consequent effects upon the social conditions of its community.
Its particularly favourable siting on the banks of the
Thames, its unique place in English history and its close connection
with Royalty through the ages give Greenwich an air and
a fascination difficult to resist.
As a riparian authority, the Council now has jurisdiction over
a river frontage of almost nine miles extending eastwards from
just short of the Surrey Commercial Docks and Limehouse Reach,
through the Greenwich, Blackwall, Bugsby, Woolwich and
Gallions' Reaches almost to Crossness on the Erith Marshes in
Barking Reach. Averaging approximately ¼ mile in width, the
River Thames forms the northern boundary of the new Borough
which ranges southwards for about 5 miles from this base line in