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role must be recognized. One dirty finger can cause widespread suffering. Thus the importance of
health education in relation to food handling cannot be over-emphasized, neither can the vital part
which the consumer has to play. To display indifference when confronted by examples of unsatisfactory
food hygiene is to encourage the lowest standards. In this sphere protest is the handmaiden
of progress.
Once again it is a pleasure to report satisfactory progress towards the completion of the smoke
control programme in the Borough. At the beginning of October the smoke control area embracing
the Bryanston Square Ward came into operation and in November the Minister of Housing and
Local Government confirmed the seventh smoke control order (covering the Dorset Square and Park
Crescent Wards) to be made by the Council. A survey of the Church Street and Bell Street Wards,
which will comprise the eighth and last smoke control area to be declared, was well under way by
the end of the year. This final area contains the Lodge Road and Aberdeen Place power stations,
which have been a source of local concern for many years from the standpoint of air pollution. The
conversion of the boilers at Lodge Road to oil-firing during the summer was thus particularly timely.
It is also a pleasure to reiterate the contribution to the clean air movement, and indeed to the public
health as a whole, of the public cleansing service, and I am indebted to the Director of Public Cleansing
for supplying the information about refuse collection and street cleansing which appears on page 16.
The further extension of the "dustless" system, incorporating the quiet emptying of dustbins, is a
welcome prospect.
Of particular interest in view of the growing public sensitivity to noise was the appearance in
July of the Final Report of the Wilson Committee on this complex subject. In mitigating the present
unsatisfactory position, the Committee felt it essential to keep the public informed as to which noise
nuisances are readily avoidable and to disseminate existing knowledge more widely amongst those
dealing with the technical aspects of noise problems. Indicting road traffic as a major source of
annoyance, the Report recommended statutory maximum noise levels for motor vehicles as well
as the prohibition of the use of motor horns except in emergency. Industrial noise was also found
to cause widespread nuisance and it was therefore suggested that planning authorities should consult
the public health authority when considering applications for planning permission for new factories.
In St. Marylebone the Department does have the opportunity to comment from a public health
standpoint on all development plans submitted to the Council. A frequent cause of complaint in
the Borough relates to construction and demolition works and the Report suggests that noise from
such sites between, say, 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. should not exceed the level at which conversation in the
nearest building would be too difficult with the windows shut. Clearly much more research is needed
but in the meantime the findings of the Wilson Committee have given further impetus to the efforts
of all concerned to meet the popular demand for a quieter environment.
With the passage of the London Government Act, under which the Metropolitan Borough of St.
Marylebone will shortly disappear, it is especially fitting that I should conclude this preface on a
note of deep appreciation. I am indeed grateful to His Worship the Mayor, to the Chairman, Councillor
Dr. H. K. Ashworth, and members of the Pu.blic Health Committee, and to members of the Council
generally for their continuing help and encouragement. To my colleagues in other Departments
of the Council I extend my sincere thanks for their ready assistance at all times. Lastly, I am very
conscious of the debt of gratitude which I owe to the Staff of the Public Health Department for their
constant cheerful and loyal support.
I am, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
HASTINGS E. A. CARSON,
Medical Officer of Health.
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