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Housing
Following the devastation which occurred in Poplar during the War the
phasing of re-development in relation to tlie zoning of the London Plan has
created a problem due to sites which have been cleared but which will not be
developed until some period in the future. Before the war the population of
Poplar was housed in small congested sub-standard dwellings with few communal
amenities,which meant that in the future re-development there would be a need
for provision of new open spaces, new schools, and other public buildings.
Many of the sites are over-grown with weeds which favour surreptitious flytipping
of every conceivable conmodity - old cars, builders" rubble, unwanted
furniture, bedding and putrescible matter, This has occasioned considerable
activity on the part of the Department to clear these sites to secure the
abatement of nuisances and, where practicable, to arrange for them to be
fenced in in order to obviate the recurrence of nuisance and to prevent trespass
by caravans.
(a) Mobile Dwellings
The still pressing need for further units of accommodation and the fact
that these existing sites were a serious source of nuisance, has encouraged
the London County Council to develop mobile dwellings which can be erected in
these areas with a minimum amount of site preparation. It is proposed to place
a large number of these dwellings in Poplar during 1963.
(b) Houses in Multiple Occupation
The Housing Act and Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations, whilst
giving wide powers to Local Authorities to improve the amenities where houses
are occupied by more than one family, is likely to give rise to problems
relating to the difficulty of establishing ownership. The Council,have,therefore,
decided to restrict the number of occupants to the facilities available.
Investigations in connection with the application of these Regulations have
entailed very considerable additional work in the Department owing to the need
to obtain precise information, which often requires the service of Notice of
Entry on occupiers of individual rooms,which entails multiple visiting of the
same house, frequently outside normal office hours.
Sinn Clearance
The tenants in the McCullum Road Area have been rehoused and the work of
demolition is in progress, including the old Roman Road Baths,the site of which
will be incorporated in the new re-development.
The Lefevre Road Area, the subject of an Enquiry last year, has been
approved by the Minister and arrangements are in progress for the rehousing
of the tenants.
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