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remain on the register. There are now, therefore, four premises in the
district registered under Section 2 of the Rag Flock and Other Filling
Materials Act. There are no licensed premises in the district.
During the year eight visits were made to the registered premises.
All manufacturers continue to use materials carrying the certificate of
the British Standards Institution, and on no occasion were any dirty
filling materials to be found in use on the premises.
Statutory records were inspected and in no cases were any contraventions
of the Act found. Many visits were made to other upholstery
workshops in the district to ensure that no work was being carried on
which would necessitate their applying for registration under the Act.
One complaint was received about the condition of the filling material
in a pillow purchased in the district. This was investigated, and a warning
was given. The makers of the pillow have now ceased to manufacture
pillows filled with flock.
Caravans
For some years there have been a number of caravans at North
Lodge, Stonegrove, Edgware. Apart from the unsuitability of some of
the structures for permanent occupation by families, the arrangement of
the site is unsatisfactory. Section 345 of the Middlesex County Council
Act, 1944, prohibits movable dwellings being placed or kept on any
land in the district without the previous consent of the Council and
"it shall not be lawful for any person without the previous consent of
the Council to let or permit to be used any land for occupation by any
movable dwellings unless the surface of such land is covered with concrete
or other suitable material and unless such land is provided with
sufficient roads, sanitary accommodation, drains and sewers and is
furnished with a separate supply of water to the satisfaction of the
Council." The Planning Committee has been taking steps to secure
discontinuation of the use of the site for the parking of caravans. While
anxious to secure improvement in the state of affairs on the site, the
Public Health Committee were reluctant to insist on the taking of steps
which might prejudice the efforts of the Planning Committee. Even
more caravans came on the site so that at the end of the year there were
15 caravans there, none of them on a hard standing, the roadway being
unmade. Water was obtained from a tap at a nearby garage. Sanitary
arrangements consisted of Elsan closets and one water closet, also used
by the garage employees; the contents of the closets are emptied down a
manhole of a nearby sewer.
In July, five caravans were placed on a field adjoining the Watford
by-pass. Numbers rose steadily, reaching 32 by December. The road
to the site is in a deplorable state. There is a water supply but there is
no water carriage system or drainage, each caravan having its own
Elsan closet, the contents of which are disposed of by emptying into pits,
an arrangement which might well give rise to a serious nuisance.