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rather than from inadequate plant, or inefficient boiler management. In cases of
obdurate technical difficulty owners can avail themselves of the services of the
National Fuel Efficiency Service, who will survey plant and diagnose faults.
The needs of public health necessitate the proper dispersion of the gaseous
effluents from combustion and this can only be achieved by adequate chimney
heights. To ensure a satisfactory chimney height for this purpose provision is made
in Section 10 of the Act that when plans for industrial premises, incorporating the
construction of a chimney for the dispersal of smoke, grit, dust or gases are submitted
for Building Regulation approval, the Council must be satisfied that the height of
the chimney will be sufficient to prevent nuisance, having due regard to the height
and proximity of neighbouring buildings, etc. Aesthetic considerations may be a
complicating factor and if the high chimney is unacceptable, an alternative form of
providing heat will have to be considered.
Chimney heights are calculated in accordance with the advice given in a Ministry
memorandum and there is general acceptance of these standards which apply to all
new chimneys. Unfortunately, there is at present no similar requirement where new
furnaces are installed using the existing chimney. The new plant may be considerably
larger than the former plant and may discharge into a chimney which was
already too low. Every effort is made to achieve improvements but high chimneys
are expensive and power to enforce an increase in the height of the chimney in such
circumstances is lacking in existing legislation.
During the year 28 plans incorporating chimneys were submitted and all were
approved—eight only after amendment.
Section 3 of the Act requires that new furnaces (except those of domestic
capacity) must, as far as practicable, be capable of being operated without emitting
smoke when burning fuel of a type for which the furnace is designed; it is an offence
to install such furnaces without previously notifying the local authority but whilst
notification is obligatory, the submission of plans for approval is optional.
Twenty-five notifications of intended installations were received. In respect of
these, twenty-one plans were submitted for approval. Following slight amendments
in some cases, approval was granted in all but two instances.
Circular 52/67, issued jointly by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government
and the Welsh Office, dealt with the reduction of air pollution by grit and dust
discharged from boiler and furnace chimneys.
This circular, entitled "Grit and Dusts" ,supplements the Explanatory Memorandum
on the industrial provisions of the Clean Air Act, 1956, and is based on the
report of a Working Party which the Clean Air Council agreed should be set up to
consider ways and means of measuring grit and dust emissions and to advise on
appropriate levels of emission.
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