View report page

43
ashes, and cannot stand up to rain. The Highways and Cleansing Committee
favoured further investigation and possibly the introduction of a
pilot scheme.
Refuse Disposal
Each of the three constituent districts which combined to form the
Urban District of Harrow had its own method of disposal of house refuse.
In Harrow-on-the-Hill it was dealt with by incineration in a destructor.
Wealdstone had a separation plant. In this the dust was first extracted;
the refuse then passed on to a picking belt where reclaimable articles such
as paper or glass were removed and tins. The remaining material passed to
a furnance. In the Hendon Rural area the refuse was disposed of by
controlled tipping. When the two plants were no longer servicable, for a
while all refuse was disposed of by controlled tipping in the district. When
all available sites were used up, arrangements were made for all refuse to
be conveyed to a tip at Harefield.
While disposal of the rubbish by incinerators would seem to be the
most hygienic method, in point of fact the amount of grit thrown into the
air by the high draught causes a real nuisance. Those in the adjoining
isolation hospital in South Harrow were only too conscious of this
nuisance from the destructor. Disposal by a separation plant causes much
less nuisance. Because of the materials which are extracted, much less
draught in the chimney stack is needed and little or no nuisance is caused
from grit or smoke. Although the practice met with considerable
opposition when introduced, controlled tipping carried out efficiently
causes surprisingly little inconvenience or nuisance to those in the neighbourhood.
The method of disposal by controlled tipping, particularly when the
tip is out of the district, results indirectly in the creation of nuisances. It
was the practice of the Harrow Council when they had the local facilities
to agree to those who had material they wished to dispose of having this
done at these plants. With the loss of these facilities, tradespeople are more
prone to accumulate collections of disposable articles, and then to dispose
of them periodically by burning. The accumulations in themselves are
unsightly and might provide harbourage for vermin, and certainly militate
against the endeavours of the Council to improve standards of food
hygiene. There is too the question of the disposal of condemned meat,
fortunately for this district the Borough of Wembley disposes of refuse
in a destructor and have agreed to get rid of the local condemned meat in
this way. Some other solution would have to be found if Wembley turned
to some other method of disposing of their refuse.
The Council in 1948 agreed that the accepted arrangements for the
disposal of refuse for the district should be by separation and incineration,
and two sites were agreed.