View report page

Byelaws, "For the good rule and government of the Borough of Finchley and
for the prevention of nuisances" made in pursuance of Section 249 of the Local
Government Act, 1933, are complementary to the Noise Abatement Act, 1960, and
are designed to deal with noisy animals, street noises, i.e., music near houses, churches
or hospitals, the playing of musical instruments by mechanical means, and calling or
shouting for the purpose of hawking.
There were 16 complaints about noise during the year; 10 related to noise from
factories, one from constructional work, 3 about noisy neighbours, 1 the barking of a
dog and 1 occasioned by festivities in a place of public entertainment.
In an urban area in which industry is not confined to limited areas, nor separated
from residential property by open space it would seem inevitable that on occasion
some noise nuisance will arise. The firms concerned were co-operative, and there were
no unresolved problems at the end of the year.
In all the other cases an informal approach secured the desired results.
CARAVANS
In February, 1962, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in a circular
to local authorities drew attention to the problem of gipsies and other similar caravan
dwellers in finding suitable sites for living quarters or permanent settlements. In
consequence, the Middlesex County Council with the co-operation of the district councils
undertook a survey to assess the problem. The survey showed that a problem
existed in North Middlesex and to a much lesser degree in West Middlesex. Subsequently,
the County Planning Officer investigated the possibility of finding suitable
caravan sites in the north and west of the county. Only three localities seemed possible
but in each the local authority concerned felt there was not sufficient problem to
warrant the provision of an itinerant caravan site and that no sites within their district
were suitable. Having regard to the views of these authorities and to the fluctuating
numbers of itinerant caravanners in the county it was decided to take no further action
until a further assessment of the problem had been carried out. This has not yet been
done.
During the year itinerant caravan dwellers made halts in Finchley, during their
passage along the main roads. They occupied sites in old Coppetts Road, on grassed
spaces alongside the North Circular Road and in the Market Place, N.2. The families
left the district after intervention by the public health inspectors and warnings from
the Town Clerk that proceedings for trespass would be taken.
Such people are not always gipsies. More often than not they are Irish nomads,
having neither settled abode nor regular means of employment. Nowadays they are
motorised and some live in tolerable comfort in well-equipped caravans. They usually
41