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31
Refuse Dumps.—A marked improvement has taken place in
the way in which the refuse dump belonging to the St. Marylebone
Borough Council, and situated in the Greenford Ward, is conducted.
So much cannot be said of the large dump at Yeading just over the
Borough boundary where house refuse from the Borough of
Paddington and other areas is dumped by a firm of contractors.
This dump is always on fire and repeated complaints of nuisance
from smoke have been received. Representations have been made
to the contractors with threats of legal action and as a result the
contractors have decided to discontinue depositing refuse on the
old dump, which will be allowed to die down, and have undertaken
to adopt the system of controlled dumping in layers of eight feet
with a layer of soil on the top, particular precautions being taken
to keep the surface always covered and to prevent the outbreak
of fire. A watch will be kept on this dumping to see that it is
carried out properly so as to prevent nuisance.
The Report of the Departmental Committee on London Cleansing
to which the Town Council supplied written evidence regarding
the nuisance from dumps and suggesting the placing in the hands
of local authorities the power of forbidding the establishment of
these dumps in their district. This Committee did not see their
way to support this suggestion, and reported as follows:—
"That county councils or local authorities should not be
given power to exclude refuse from districts other than that
in which it is proposed to be deposited, or to exercise a veto over
sites proposed to be used for tipping refuse, but that sufficient
control could be secured by the local authorities by the adoption
and strict enforcement of suitable byelaws, with heavier penalties
for infringement; and that, while the existing law enables further
action to be taken by local authorities and county councils against
offending parties, it might be amended when opportunity offers
on the lines indicated in paragraph 41 of this Report.''
What is wanted is not the power to control such dumps as
power to prevent their establishment as is the case with offensive
trades which are not such an active source of nuisance or so serious
a danger to health.