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15
Poisons.
At the end of the year the names of sixty-three traders were on the Council's list of persons entitled
to sell poisons included in Part II of the Poisons List (Pharmacy and Poisons Acts, 1933-1941), the
number of premises concerned being seventy-four. Details are given in Table 20, page 38.
Protective Helmets.
The Motor Cycles (Protective Helmets) Regulations, 1957, makes it an offence for any person
to sell or hire or offer to sell or hire any helmet as a helmet affording protection to motor cyclists, in
the event of an accident, which is neither of a type prescribed nor of a type authorised under
Regulations made by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation as being a helmet recommended
as affording such protection. These Regulations prescribe the type of helmet which may be sold or
hired to motor cyclists.
Five premises in the Borough where these helmets are sold were kept under observation but no
sub-standard helmets were found.
Public Conveniences.
The Department controls 10 public conveniences and three urinals for men and seven conveniences
for women. No special problems arose during the year, although staff shortages due to lack of suitable
employees sometimes made it necessary to leave one or other of the less busy conveniences temporarily
unattended ; no vandalism occurred. The rest room for women and changing room for men provided
at Oxford Circus conveniences last year have been well used and fill an obvious need. The free washing
scheme with paper towels and liquid soap, now established in its twelfth year, has become widely
accepted by the public as a standard provision and other local authorities are gradually following
the pattern set in this Borough.
Public Cleansing and Salvage.
The Director of Public Cleansing has kindly provided the following information :—
“The materials dealt with during 1960 were : house and trade refuse, 36,291 tons ; street sweepings
and gully sludge, 2,614 tons ; salvaged materials, 2,186 tons. A sum of £11,396 was obtained from
the sale of salvaged materials. In addition, £2,142 was received for removing trade refuse and for
cleansing petrol interceptors, etc.
A minimum twice-weekly refuse collection was maintained, and approximately one quarter of
all premises in the Borough received a thrice-weekly clearance. A daily collection was made from
premises where this service is necessary, such as hospitals, restaurants, hotels and blocks of flats.
All street gullies were mechanically cleansed at least four times during the year and all streets
swept at least once daily.
Arrangements are being made for a pilot scheme of dustless refuse collection to be introduced
into a part of the St. John's Wood Area, and two dustless loading vehicles and 1,500 dustbins
have been ordered for this purpose. With the dustless system, refuse will be taken direct to the
special vehicles in covered bins, which are mechanically emptied into the vehicles, thus preventing
the escape of dust or litter. To reduce noise the new bins are fitted with a rubber ring at the base
and a plastic ring inside the lid. If this scheme is successful, it is hoped to extend it to other areas
in the Borough.
Delivery was received of a 10 ton tractor and 30 cu. yd. bulk loading semi-trailer, which is
capable of conversion to 40 cu. yd. capacity when suitable loading facilities have been provided
at the Department's depot. This vehicle is being used to transport to the disposal plant at Westminster
refuse brought to the Council's Central Depot in small capacity collection vehicles, thus
eliminating frequent and uneconomic journeys by the latter. In emergencies the bulk loader will
also be used to take refuse to tips outside the London area when the normal channel for disposal
is not available. Delivery was also received of two pedestrian-controlled vacuum-operated footway
cleaning machines, and these have proved successful, particularly in the residential areas of the
Borough.
An anti-litter campaign was organised during Whitsun week, to coincide with similar campaigns
held by other local authorities throughout the country. A prominent feature of the campaign was
a specially prepared publicity vehicle which was sent off from the Town Hall by His Worship the
Mayor.