View report page

HEALTH REPORT FOR 1945.
The Urban District of Coulsdon and Purley was constituted by an
Order of the Local Government Board, dated the 1st November, 1914,
and came into existence on the 7th April, 1915.
It has thus been a separate District for 30 years and it is hoped in
the next report to review its development during that time. Space will
only permit the inclusion this year of statistics relating to the state of
the Public Health in the District from 1939 to 1945 inclusive.
At the time war broke out the District, which had for many years
been developing as a comparatively well-planned "dormitory suburb,"
possessing many natural advantages, had about a third of its area built
over. About one-fifth of the District had been reserved as public open
space, chiefly as a result of the Green Belt Scheme inaugurated in 1937.
Fortunately the original development consisted chiefly of large dwellings
with fairly extensive grounds, while the later and more dense development
was influenced by the Town Planning Scheme. There still remain
extensive portions of the area which are comparatively rural, and these
it is hoped will remain unspoilt in accordance with the recommendations
of the Abercombie Plan for Greater London.
The open development of the District proved a blessing during the
periods of air attack to which it was subjected, although the proximity
of Croydon and Kenley aerodromes attracted undesirable attention
during the earlier phases.
All parts of the area were alternately partially emptied and refilled
by the ebb and flow of population, varying to some extent with the
weight of enemy air attack but also modified by the periodical influx
of troops who were billeted in the area, and later by workmen engaged
in repair work.
With the diminution of available houses owing to war damage and
destruction or the removal of many from the market by requisitioning
for various purposes, coupled with the influx of bombed-out persons
from more severely damaged parts of the London area, there has been
a tendency towards lowered social conditions in parts of the District,
with a considerable amount of crowding in individual premises though
with little statutory overcrowding.
Since the cessation of hostilities there has been a steady improvement
in these conditions. Similarly there has been a tendency for the relatively
small number of war-time industries set up in the District to
diminish, and evacuated offices to leave it. No large manufacturing
concerns have been introduced, the chief occupations now, as in prewar
days, being building and the retailing of the necessities of life, both
of which have recently received a new impetus.
9