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22
THE CLEAN AIR ACT. 1956
Atmospheric Pollution. The greater part of this Act came into
force on the 31st December, 1956 so that the Department's work
in connection with atmospheric pollution took on more positive
aspects during the year under review.
The aim of the Council is to secure that ultimately the
whole of the Borough will be a Smoke Control Area. This, however,
must be a long-term policy, particularly having regard to the
amount of air pollution emanating from the railways, of which, as
is well-known, there are more main lines running through Hampstead
than any other London Borough,
In view of the volume and importance of this work,
Mr. E. Ulrich, one of the District Public Health Inspectors, was
appointed a specialist Smoke Inspector and allotted duties in
co-ordinating and advising generally on the formation of Smoke
Control Areas.
The deposit gauges and lead peroxide instruments at
Barrow Hill Reservoir and Fortune Green Road Cemetery have been
in use for some years, and it was felt that the monthly readings
from these instruments had given a reasonable amount of basic
information which was not likely to show any appreciable change
until some steps had been taken to reduce the amount of
atmospheric pollution in the Borough or in adjoining districts.
On the other hand, there was probably insufficient information
on local variations throughout the Borough.
After consultation with the Department of Scientific
and Industrial Research, the station at the Barrow Hill
Reservoir was closed down and the Public Health Committee
recommended that three continuous filters giving daily records
should be installed at appropriate points, in addition to the
continuous filter which operates at the Public Health Department.
This arrangement should give additional useful information
without increased cost to the Council.
The co-operation of the headmasters of various schools
was enlisted as it was thought that the Council would be
assisted in the recording of the daily measurements and at the
same time the instruments and records would provide matters of
interest to the students.
Three headmasters subsequently agreed to accept and
supervise the operation of the instruments but delays in