View report page

15
so that if necessary they can be called upon for emergency duty elsewhere. No special problems arose
during the year and although staff shortages sometimes occurred during the holiday period, or because
of sickness, there has been an improvement in the general situation because there have been more
suitable applicants for this kind of work than in recent years. Consequently it has seldom been
necessary to leave conveniences unattended. Although there has been a certain amount of minor
vandalism, this has occurred in toilets which are unattended and appears mainly to have been caused
by children.
Public Cleansing and Salvage.
The Director of Public Cleansing has kindly provided the following information :—
" The refuse and salvage collected during 1962 were : house and trade refuse, 35,401 tons ; street
sweepings and gully sludge, 2,524 tons; salvaged materials, 2,121 tons. The sum of £14,864 was
received from the sale of salvaged materials. In addition, £2,306 was received for the removal of
trade and extra refuse and the cleansing of petrol interceptors, etc.
Apart from a period of several weeks at the end of the year, when the refuse collection employees
were ' working to rule ' and heavy snowfalls occurred, a minimum twice weekly refuse collection
service was maintained and approximately one quarter of all premises in the Borough received a
thrice weekly clearance. A daily collection was made at premises where this is necessary, such as
hospitals, restaurants, hotels and blocks of flats. All street gullies were mechanically cleansed
approximately 4 times during the year and all streets swept at least once daily.
Following the successful introduction of dustless refuse collection in a part of the St. John's Wood
area, arrangements are being made to extend the system to other parts of the Borough. Five new
refuse compression vehicles were ordered and these are easily adaptable to dustless loading when
required by the fitting of the special shutter equipment. Co-operation between the Department and
bin and plastics manufacturers has resulted in the production of a satisfactory lightweight bin for
use with the dustless vehicles, for which the Council have approved the name ' St. Marylebone
Model Bin'. It was originally considered that the dustless system would be suitable only for
residential districts, but the advent of this new lightweight bin to replace the all-metal bin, will
allow the system to be extended to shopping and business districts as well.
During the year, delivery was received of a further 12 aluminium street orderly trucks, to replace
a similar number of old steel type trucks. The new trucks are much lighter and easier to handle.
A two-wheeled trailer was also purchased for trial use with the new refuse compression vehicles,
which have limited salvage accommodation. This trailer has facilitated and improved the yield of
salvage material and further machines of this type are being purchased
For the first time, the regular cleaning of the bulk refuse storage containers in use at all the
Council's housing estates was undertaken by this Department. A hydraulic tail lift was fitted to one
of the Council's vehicles, to enable the containers to be lifted and transported to the Department's
depot for cleaning and return to site."
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. Twelve 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 fourteen premises, mainly those of upholsterers and manufacturers of cushions and pillows, are
registered. Eight samples of hair, three of fibre and one of rag flock were taken during the year and
found to comply with the statutory requirements.
The Rag Flock and Other Filling Materials Regulations, 1961, came into operation on the 1st August
and supersede the Regulations of 1951 and 1954. Used wood wool is now prescribed as filling material
to which the Act applies.