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33
genuine objections (even though the objections may not have been
well founded) and the feeling that they were being used as
"guinea-pigs" the residents in the Vale of Health have been most
helpful and cooperatives.
No objections were made to the Order in respect of Area
No.2 (St. John's Wood) and this was confirmed without a Local Inquiry
by the Minister in April, 1959. The third area is a more ambitious
project and at the time of writing this report the preliminary
survey was in progress.
There can be no doubt that the reduction of atmospheric
pollution through Smoke Control Areas is sound and that in the
promotion of health, clean air is as important as other forms of
cleanliness, although it must be remembered that Smoke Control Areas
do little, if anything, to reduce the invisible pollution caused by
the oxides of sulphur.
The present procedure for making Smoke Control Orders is,
however, cumbersome and, it is suggested, wasteful. It is
obviously necessary that there should be a reasonable estimate of
the cost, particularly the cost to the local authority and to the
Treasury® The cost to the individual householder is also important
but perhaps not to the same extent, because he has a more immediate
and direct control of the expenditure. There must also be an
estimate of the amount of smokeless fuel to be used.
Practice has shown that in spite of the tremendous amount
of time required to effect the detailed survey - and this at a
period when trained staff are at a premium, the final estimates,
both of cost and fuel requirements are, to say the least, empirical.
Pinal figures are made up from very many individual
estimates so that a small degree of error or latitude in each
estimate is magnified in the total. Most householders have a very
inexact idea of the total amount of fuel used and here again the
final total is the sum of a large number of guesses. In addition,
as soon as residents become aware that a particular area is being
considered for the purpose of a Smoke Control Order and are informed
of new appliances and their efficiency, a surprisingly large number
make the necessary alterations without waiting for the Order to be
confirmed.
It would seem that a flat rate for the cost of conversion,
based on the experience of local authorities and on the
information which the Ministry already has, would give estimates
which would be comparable with those obtained from detailed surveys
and indeed that the estimates of fuel requirements might be more