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49
Local Land Charges.
Particulars with regard to outstanding sanitary notices, not
fully complied with, were given in reference to 1,383 enquiries.
Smoke Abatement.
During the year 107 observations have been made on factory
chimneys. Infringements were found in three instances, and letters
of warning were issued in these cases. It was not found necessary
to institute legal proceedings.
A laundry chimney was found to be emitting a large amount
of grit, and was causing nuisance in the neighbourhood. After
representations to the owner, a modern type of aero-dynamic grit
arrester was installed, and has proved very effective in preventing
the nuisance.
Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution.
In August, 1949, the Chairman of the Standing Conference of
Co-operating Bodies (Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution)
addressed a circular letter to the Council, of which the following
is an extract:—
"Many Local Authorities are perturbed at the nuisance
and damage caused by smoke and other pollution in the air.
The injury to buildings, cost of laundering, the bad effect
upon health, are only some of the ill effects of pollution, quite
apart from the waste of the valuable substance lost up the
chimneys.
"There is no one simple practicable remedy. The cure
lies in the steady improvement of factors such as selection of
fuels, design of furnaces and domestic grates, methods of flue
gas cleaning, education in the use of fuels and equipment,
and so on.
"But behind these changes there must be a constant
watch on the actual state of the atmosphere to find what are
the chief sources of pollution and how much the introduction
of improved methods of burning fuel affects the amount and
incidence of pollution. Reliable data are needed on which to
base the justification for changes.
"The collection of such data is undertaken by a number
of Local Authorities and other organisations collaborating