View report page

lems because the parked vehicle very materially lowers the efficiency of mechanical sweepers.
There are objections to their use at night on noise grounds and night routes have to be carefully
selected and are necessarily confined to main roads. Notwithstanding this however, the Cleansing
Service operates two mechanical sweepers-one a Verro City Sweeper, the current price of
which is £3,550, which is suction-assisted and very manoeuvrable; the other a Johnson Section
Sweeper which costs approximately £4,000 and is powerful and efficient on through routes where
there is little standing traffic. Both machines are at present being used only at night when the
traffic problem is smaller. Drivers are not easy to obtain, but it is hoped to expand mechanical
sweeping of carriageways in the future.
Attention has also been given to the possible use of mechanical sweeping of footways and
a number of machines tried out. The greatest need for them is in shopping areas, where the denser
pedestrian usage does not make them easily usable without some risk. Progress is being made in
the development of footpath sweepers and the Council will avail itself of any machine which can
achieve a satisfactory result in the conditions under which it must work.
Street Markets.
There are in the Borough a number of street markets catering mainly for the sale of vegetables,
fruit, and flowers, but also other items from stalls. The largest of these markets is in North
End Road which contains some 91 stalls, but the others are materially smaller and do not present
such great cleansing problems. Large trailers are provided for the reception of refuse from the market,
three being located in the side roads off North End Road. These are progressively filled during
the day and removed at night for emptying except on Fridays and Saturdays, an intermediate
emptying during these days often proving necessary because of heavier trading. At the end of the
day there is always a quantity of litter left in the market area and special arrangements are made
to remove this with a small gang and a Dennis "Paxit" vehicle.
Removal of Derelict and Abandoned Vehicles.
This is a fairly recent addition to the problems of the Cleansing Service but is one that
is becoming more extensive, particularly in the London area where the abandonment of vehicles on
the highway gives rise to much risk of accident and serious offence to amenity.
The Removal of Vehicles (England and Wales) Regulations, 1961, gave Local Authorities
power to remove from the highway to safe storage any vehicles which appeared to be abandoned,
and to dispose of these when all efforts to establish ownership had failed.
The Civic Amenities Act, 1967, provides, inter-alia, that it shall be the duty of a Local
Authority to remove vehicles which appear to have been abandoned, without lawful authority, on
any land in the open air or on any other land forming part of a highway. Vehicles dealt with under
this Act after 27th July, 1968, will have to be delivered to the Greater London Council who will
arrange for their storage and ultimate destruction.
Although the Act does not fully become operative until 27th July, 1968, it makes provision
for vehicles to be dealt with, under Section 20, during the six months prior to that date.
Section 20(3) refers to vehicles which are considered to be in such a condition that they
should be destroyed, and vehicles of this class in the Borough are now being removed in accordwith
this Section. These vehicles, together with others which are to be removed on authority from
the Police, are collected and disposed of by a reliable, properly equipped contractor on payment by
the Council. A local resident who gives written authority for the removal of his vehicle which is no longer.
roadworthy can, at present, have this taken away and disposed of free of charge to himself and to
the Council, the Contractor covering his expenses by the scrap value of the vehicle which, in many
cases is complete.
The size of the problem is indicated by the fact that 4,136 vehicles were collected and
destroyed during the 3 years ended 31st March, 1968.
Refuse Disposal.
Under the London Government Act, 1963, the final disposal of refuse became a function
of the Greater London Council. The work is handled in co-operation with the London Borough of
Hammersmith, partly through Chancellor's Wharf which is basically a transfer station to which the
local collection vehicles bring refuse for discharge on to a raised concrete platform from which
it is fed into larger vehicles for conveyance to controlled tips in the outer London area; and
partly through the Refuse Destructor which serves the Southern part of the Borough, and has recently
been reconstructed at a cost approaching £250,000.
104