View report page

Included in this Area are 104 shops, offices or other nondomestic
buildings. It is estimated that some 3,000 dwellings will
require 4,800 approved appliances, and a further 500 will require
means of ignition to the existing approved appliances. The
operative date is 1st October, 1964.
NEW AREAS
During 1963 preliminary work was commenced upon two further
Areas. The first of these is a large area of private property
immediately to the north of the Well Hall Area. The second Area
coincides with the phasing of one of the Council's Redevelopment
Areas.
The Council's target date for the whole of the Borough to
become smokeless is 1968. At the present rate of progress this
should be achieved.
PAYMENT OF GRANT
One of the main difficulties associated with the payment of
grant upon the conversion of fires continued to be the inability
of the Council to give financial assistance where the work was
carried out without prior written approval, or carried out before
the Smoke Control Order had been confirmed by the Minister. The
Metropolitan Boroughs' Standing Joint Committee made unsuccessful
representations to the Minister in 1959 and 1961 that the law in
this respect should be amended. Further representations were
made during the year that where the work is carried out under the
supervision of a local authority, grant should be payable towards
the cost if and when a Smoke Control Order is confirmed.
SMOKE CONTROL PROGRAMMES
Early in the year the Minister circularised local authorities
on their progress in Smoke Control in the "black areas". The
Minister reported that although a number of authorities expect to
complete their programmes earlier than was originally estimated,
there remained nearly 40 authorities who expected to take 15 years
or more. In the Minister's view many authorities would need to
get along more quickly than they have in the past.
As previously mentioned, Woolwich is ahead of schedule and
the whole Borough should be smokeless by 1968.
-58-