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15.
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION.
Clean Air Act. 1956
The year' s progress in this sphere took place against the
background, mentioned in last year's report, of a changing position
in solid smokeless fuel supplies.
The attention of the staff concerned was chiefly directed toward
the work of fireplace conversion in Area No.6 in which there was a
particularly heavy response from householders in applying for assistance
in the form of grants.
The Smoke Control Order affecting Area No.7 was made by the Council
in December and confirmation is still awaited from the Minister of Housing
and Local Government. The survey of Area No.8 wascompleted.
The trend towards gas heating was continued, bearing out the optimum
of the Ministry of Fuel and Power in the face of decreasing coke supplies,
but the efforts of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to
popularise the solid fuel stove or room heater as it is now called, do not
seem to have yet borne fruit.
In December Circular 60/64 issued by the Minister of Housing and Local
Government excluded the direct electric fire from the category of appliances
ranking for grant, leaving householders with a preference for electric
heating no other choice than the off-peak storage heater. The motive for
this is clearly to relieve the peak hour load for electric power, an
indication of the battle to cope with the ever increasing demand for
electricity for both power and heating.
Area No.7 when confirmed will produce interesting information as the
first area to be fully affected by the suggestions contained in the controversial
Circular No.69/63. This publication advocated the payment of grants
on an increased scale to encourage the adoption of appliances other than
open coke-burning grates. Portents were of course observed in Area No.6
but its recommendation could not be fully applied in that area since the
Order was already made before the issue of the Circular.
Mr.E.Ulrich, who has been responsible for the whole inception of Smoke
Control work in Hampstead was in September transferred to other work for
which he is particularly qualified and the duties ofSmoke Control Officer
are now carried out by Mr. J. A .Woodman. A tribute might here be paid to Mr.
Ulrich,s painstaking work in this field and to his initiative in the early
days when there was little precedent to be followed. Through his efforts
Hampstead has been able to play a full part in smoke control in London.