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a static factor—some houses due to the owners and tenants may
improve while others deteriorate. These houses will come to the
notice of the Department in the course of day to day routine and
should these conditions warrant, a report to the Committee would
be made. It is equally possible that small clearance areas may arise
from the same cause.
During the year a circular 42/62 from the Ministry of Housing and
Local Government requested Councils to select an area in which
bathrooms, hot water supplies, indoor W.C.s were lacking and to
bring to the notice of owners the system whereby grants could be
obtained to carry out these improvements. The Housing Committee
considered this circular and decided to recommend that a small area
should be selected for this scheme. Visits and inspections in this area
were started during the year but owing to the inclement weather not
much progress was made.
CLEAN AIR ACT, 1956
During the year of 1962 the Council have continued with their
programme under the Act. At the end of 1961 there were two areas
operative containing 1,731 domestic dwellings and a third area was
awaiting the Minister's approval. This area was considerably larger
than the previous ones and contained 1,160 domestic dwellings with
approximately 2,046 fireplaces requiring adaptation, at an estimated
cost of £16,524.
The Order was approved without modification and immediately the
approval was received the necessary forms and explanatory memoranda
were sent to all the owners and occupiers in the area. During the
period between the date on which the Order was approved and the
date on which it became operative applications for approval of works
of adaptation necessary to make the premises comply with the above
Act were received from approximately 60% of the houses estimated
to require such works. It has been a feature of all the areas that
have been dealt with up to the present that only 50% to 60% of the
houses known to require works of adaptation make application for
grants under the above Act. However, when the Orders become
operative very few contraventions of the Act, that is smoke being
emitted from flues, are noiced and in such cases when the contravention
is brought to the notice of the occupiers either verbally or in
writing the offence ceases.
Since the Act came into force and the Council decided to institute
a programme which will make the whole of the Urban District smokeless
in a period of 12 years the general attitude of the public has been
one of co-operation. This co-operation has undoubtedly made the
work of the Department much easier and if it had not been
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