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51
With regard to the type of transport vehicle design, if a
mechanical horse system were to be used, this would need the
provision of at least two mechanical horses of the Scammell
type and the acquisition of at least three rear loading pantechnicons
of 18 cu. yard capacity presumably horse hauled. This
system may be more efficient than the present one, it will
certainly be more expensive and will mean augmentation of the
staff to at least 25 men and a foreman. The approximate cost
of the new vehicles would be :—
2 Mechanical Horses (Scammell) at <£450 = £900 0 0
.3 Rear-loading Pantechnicon type (18 cu.
yds.) at £600 £1800 0 0
Hire 3 horses and 3 men at daily rate of £3 15 0
2. Disposal.
The collection of refuse is a comparatively straight-forward
matter as compared with its disposal and in the past an out-ofsight
out-of-mind policy sufficed in too many cases. Each
community has to find its cheapest and most satisfactory means
of final disposal. For this borough I would recommend that
consideration be given to the following : —
(a) Barging by contract. This is probably the cheapest
and most economical in the long run and has already worked
satisfactorily for a number of years in the town.
(b) Land Reclamation—Controlled tipping. Here all
objections sentimental and real must be envisaged and full
regard paid to the immediate surroundings. Suitable sites
within the borough on the marshes and elsewhere are at the
moment under consideration as an emergency measure. At least
four additional staff would be required for any such scheme
together with the necessary equipment and the rental or
purchase of the site, and these costs would have to be set
against the improved value of the land over a number of years
and the cultural satisfaction of well-drained municipal playing
fields or pleasure gardens on a former derelict marshy terrain.
Industrial interests are of course always capable of reclaiming
derelict land where the economic situation warrants any
such outlay.
(c) Incineration. Most large cities appear to favour this
method either as complete incineration or as incineration with
power production. The question of dust and smell nuisance
must be borne in mind and call for careful decision in the
localisation of the incinerator.
During the past few years the advantages of incineration
have been fully acknowledged and at the destructor a system
of salvage of at least metal and tins could be instigated. Heat