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the housing scheme in the Kidbrooke area. Here the Greater
London Council has acquired the old Kidbrooke R.A.F. Depot as
a development site which, eventually, will provide homes for some
7,000 persons, a large shopping centre, 3 schools and 27 acres of
open space. Commenced in 1966, the scheme is expected to be
completed by 1977.
Housing in the Borough is not only provided by the Council,
the G.L.C. and private enterprises but also by a number of other
agencies which serve special classes of citizens, i.e. the aged,
widows, elderly spinsters, and widowers, etc. Organisations such
as the Greenwich and Quadrant Housing Societies provide assistance
in the housing of elderly and other classes of people not likely
to qualify for such help from the local authority. Furthermore, over
200 units of accommodation for aged persons are furnished by ten
groups of almshouses one of which was founded as early as 1558.
being the first public charity to be established after the reformation.
Although the future housing problem is monumental there is
no doubt that it will be tackled by the Council in a manner as firm
and resolute as has been demonstrated in previous years.
Providing for the needs of Borough residents there are, at the
present time, more than 2,000 shops, generally of the smaller kind,
many being of the old-fashioned "shop on the corner" type selling
a wide range of goods. However, this situation is changing,
possibly contrary to the interests of many sections of the public.
Town planning is demanding concentration of traders into "shopping
centres" which tend to be dominated by big companies and
which often lead to burdensome and sometimes costly journeys
for the elderly and women with large families. Of the existing
shops, a large percentage are food establishments to which
supplies of meat and poultry come mainly from Smithfield Market
and sometimes directly from Kent and Surrey. Fruit and vegetables,
for the most part, arrive from Kent or from the Covent Garden,
Borough, Greenwich or Spitalfields Market. The rights of a
flourishing daily open-air market in Beresford Square mainly for
the sale of vegetables, fish and poultry, are vested in the Council
and date from the reign of James I. A "new market", under cover,
in Plumstead Road, is also a popular centre for the daily and
weekend shoppers of south-east London. Commodity standards
are maintained by the vigilance of the Council's Public Control
Officers.
Full time supervision is afforded by the Borough's Food
Inspectors to the private slaughterhouse at Woodlands Farm,
Garland Road, one of the most up-to-date and busiest abattoirs
in the Metropolitan area. Their duties also include the inspection