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convenience in connection with a road widening scheme should be of benefit. There will, however,
still be a serious lack of accommodation for women in the Maida Vale/St. John's Wood Road area and
between Oxford Circus and Marble Arch. The possibility is being examined of reconstructing the
St. John's Wood Road and Barrett Street conveniences to provide women's sections. Furthermore,
the Salisbury Street convenience is considered inadequate to deal with the demand on market days
and advantage should be taken of any opportunity that might arise to consider its replacement in
connection with redevelopments in the Church Street area.
For some years the normal opening time of conveniences has been 7.40 a.m. In order to ascertain
whether the use between 7.40 a.m. and 8 a.m. justified opening at this time or whether 8 a.m. could be
adopted with a consequent financial saving, a census was taken. It was found that reasonable use was
made of the conveniences between 7.40 a.m. and 8 a.m. and variation of the opening time was not
desirable.
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.
Public Cleansing and Salvage.
The Director of Public Cleansing has kindly provided the following information:—
"The refuse and salvage collected during 1961 were : house and trade refuse, 35,611 tons; street
sweepings and gully sludge, 2,443 tons; salvaged materials, 2,178 tons. A sum of £16,295 was
obtained from the sale of salvaged materials. In addition, £2,279 was received for removing trade
refuse and for cleansing petrol interceptors, etc.
Although a five day working week was introduced for the refuse collection staff, a minimum twiceweekly
service was maintained, and approximately one quarter of all premises in the Borough
received a thrice-weekly clearance. A daily collection was continued where necessary, such as
at hospitals, restaurants, hotels and blocks of flats. All street gullies were mechanically cleansed
approximately four times during the year and all streets swept at least once daily.
The pilot scheme of dustless refuse collection began in April in a part of the St. John's Wood area.
The new system proved most satisfactory and appreciative comments were made by residents.
Research has been carried out with a view to decreasing the weight of the present all-metal bins
used for dustless collection by the use of lighter materials, and experiments are continuing.
Arrangements were made to deal with the unsatisfactory conditions for refuse storage at the
remaining buildings in the Borough where fixed ashpits were still in use, resulting in unhygienic
working conditions for the refuse collectors. With the co-operation of the property owners, structural
alterations are being made where necessary and ' Paladin ' type storage containers installed.
At the beginning of the year, a wastepaper baling plant was put into operation in a new temporary
building at the Department's Central Depot. It has resulted in more efficient handling of
the large tonnages of wastepaper collected and a considerable increase in the revenue obtained from
the sale of this material to the mills.
During the year, delivery was received of one new gully emptier to replace an old machine,' and of
twelve aluminium street orderly tracks to replace a similar number of old steel type tracks."
Refuse Storage Accommodation.
Section 24 of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1959, requires inter alia, that from
the 1st April, 1960, new buildings or buildings substantially altered or adapted shall be provided with
refuse storage accommodation approved by the Borough Council. The Department is concerned that
suitable and sufficient accommodation shall be provided and the Director of Public Cleansing that
the refuse shall be easily accessible for collection. Nine schemes were approved during the year after
consultation with the Director of Public Cleansing.
Rag Flock and Other Filling Materials.
The Rag Flock and Other Filling Materials Act, 1951, is intended to ensure that the fillings for
upholstered and other stuffed articles shall be clean and wholesome. Standards of cleanliness are laid
down in Regulations made under the Act, which also provides for licensing of premises where the fillings
are manufactured or stored, and registration by the local authority of all business premises where these
materials are used. No premises in St. Marylebone are licensed for manufacture or storage but