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33.
An important additional responsibility to be borne by the Public
Health Inspector is that whilst it is obligatory on the part of a
person proposing to install a new industrial furnace and other large
furnaces such as may be found in large hotels and blocks of flats,
persons may submit plans and specifications of such plant for approval
of the local authority before installation in order to place the onus
on the local authority should the plant prove ineffective in preventing
the emission of smoke in practice. The Public Health Inspector is
well qualified to deal with the majority of such plants likely to be
installed in Shoreditch, but it may be necessary, in the event of a
major industrial type of furnace, to seek specialist advice when
considering such plans and specifications.
'Smoke Control Areas'
As from 51st December 1956, local authorities will be enabled to
establish smoke control areas by means of Orders confirmed by the
Ministry. Broadly speaking, the effect of a Smoke Control Order will
be to prohibit either entirely or partly the emission of smoke from
chimneys in the area. The local authority may exempt certain buildings
in the area according to local circumstances.
The establishment of Smoke Control Areas will be a gradual process,
the governing factors being the availability of smokeless fuels, the
rate at which appliances can be converted or replaced, the financial
resources of the local authority and public support.
Encouragement, in the form of grants, may be given by the local
authority to owners and occupiers who adapt existing fireplaces in
private dwellings in the form of 70% of the cost of adaptations (the
local authority bearing and the Exchequer 40%). The local authority
also has power to make grants at their discretion to Churches, Chapels
and charitable institutions, but grants are not to be made with regard
to any other type of property.
There can be no doubt that close liaison between neighbouring
authorities will be of the utmost importance in establishing Smoke
Control Areas and every effort should be made in this direction to
encourage these authorities whose boundaries adjoin Shoreditch to enter
into discussion before submitting any recommendations for the
establishment of smoke control areas.