View report page

33
The vent shafts from the numerous railway tunnels which
traverse beneath a large part of the borough have inevitably continued
to cause annoyance. Increasing use of diesel locomotives is
reducing the amount of visible smoke and the Government's decision
to go ahead with electrification of the main line to the north-west
will eventually reduce this problem to tolerable proportions.
Smoke Control Areas
The No. 1 Control Order became operative on the 1st
September, 1959 and the No. 2 Order on the 1st November, 1959.
Observations over the winter months at the end of that year and the
beginning of this showed that the orders were almost entirely
effective. There were some instances of householders using up
existing stocks of coal and a few others who claimed they had no
knowledge of the Order.
Claims for conversion grants have been considerably fewer
and costs per conversion have been higher than anticipated (and
estimated) and, as this circumstance now appears to be the general
rule, allowance for it will be made in subsequent areas.
A Smoke Control Order (No.3) was made in October
covering some 7,000 premises and confirmation by the Minister
is awaited with proposed date of operation to be 1st October, 1961.
Approximately 11,000 visits were made in connection with this
one smoke control area. Despite this large number of visits it
has been impossible to gain entry into all the dwellings for the
purpose of inspection.
Reasonable estimates of the amount of fuel now used and
probable requirements of smokeless fuels are, of course, necessary
before the Minister can confirm an Order but some modification of
the procedure would seem to be desirable to effect a fair balance
between pure guesswork on the one hand and the expenditure of an
inordinate amount of working time on arriving at an estimate which
may in fact be far from correct.
The detailed survey of Area No. 4 which comprises some
3,700 houses in the eastern part of the borough was started in the
late autumn and a serious attempt is being made to reduce the
number of ineffective visits by the use of reply paid cards which
the householders are asked to fill in and return. Increased
publicity is also necessary if the cooperation of the residents is
to be obtained.