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periods, necessitating some of the smaller conveniences being left unattended for short periods.
Fortunately, incidents of vandalism have been few but minor damage to fittings, etc., has occurred
at the unattended Violet Hill Gardens convenience.
Public Cleansing and Salvage.
The Director of Public Cleansing has kindly provided the following information:—
"The refuse and salvage collected during 1963 were: house and trade refuse, 36,050 tons;
street sweepings, market refuse and gully sludge, 2,431 tons; salvaged materials, 2,321 tons. An
income of £16,524 was received from the sale of salvaged materials. In addition, £2,057 was received
for the removal of trade and extra refuse and the cleansing of petrol interceptors, etc.
Apart from a period at the beginning of the year, when heavy snowfalls occurred, a minimum
twice-weekly refuse collection was maintained and about a 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 four times during the year and, with the exception of the above-mentioned
snow period, all streets were swept at least once daily.
The year commenced with the most severe weather experienced in London for at least 80 years.
Heavy snow fell on many occasions and the very low temperatures made removal difficult. Virtually
all the street cleansing staff, assisted by large numbers of men from the Works Department, casual
labour and volunteers from the refuse staff, were employed for many weeks on snow clearance and
removal. Many of the Cleansing Department's vehicles, together with Works Department and
hired vehicles, loading shovels and snowploughs, were in constant use during the period. Nearly
1,000 tons of salt were spread on roads and footways and considerably more would have been used
if it had been obtainable from suppliers.
The experience of the 1962/63 winter showed that there was a need for additional snow clearing
equipment, to enable the Department to deal satisfactorily with snowfalls of similar intensity and
duration. Consequently, two suitable secondhand vehicles were purchased for conversion to salt
spreading machines and three additional modern-type snowploughs and more tools were obtained.
In addition, salt storage facilities were greatly increased.
The refuse collection service in the Borough was reorganised in the early part of the year and
this, together with the introduction of new compression type vehicles, enabled a reduction to be
made in the number of vehicles required.
An evening and night collection service was introduced in the eastern end of the Borough, owing
to the traffic difficulties involved in day time collection. There are many textile and other business
premises in multi-occupation in this area, which produce a very large volume of bulky refuse but
have insufficient storage accommodation. The new service has improved the amenities of the
district, as formerly much of the refuse was placed outside premises overnight, which was unsightly
and caused littering of the streets.
A new emergency refuse loading bay has been built at the Department's main depot to enable
refused to be transferred to large capacity vehicles for haulage to tips, at times when the normal
means of transport by barge is not available.
During the year, a further five new refuse compression vehicles were put into operation. The
Department now has ten of these machines, all of which are capable of conversion to dustless refuse
collection when this is extended to other parts of the Borough.
For the street cleansing service, a new side-loading vehicle was purchased, to replace an old
vehicle of similar type. It will be used in the collection of sweepings and market refuse.
A new street-washing trailer was also purchased, for use in conjunction with an existing tractor,
and this will enable more street washing to be carried out at night."
Refuse Storage Accommodation.
Section 24 of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1959, requires"inter aha"that
new buildings, or buildings substantially altered or adapted, shall be provided with refuse storage
accommodation approved by the Borough Council. The Department is concerned to ensure that
suitable and sufficient accommodation shall be provided, and the Director of Public Cleansing that
the refuse shall be easily accessible for collection. Twenty schemes were approved after consultation
with the Director of Public Cleansing and during the year progress was also made with the abolition
of some of the few remaining fixed ashpits. At Portman Buildings, Crawford Buildings, Ossington
Buildings, Seymour Buildings, Wendover Court, and Wharncliffe Gardens, the replacement by stages
of fixed ashpits with bins and later with large refuse containers is advancing well towards completion.