View report page

2
SECTION A
STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS
1. General Statistics.
Area in Acres 1,390
Total Population (including Service
personnel) 39,160
Number of inhabited houses (approx,) 11,651
Rateable Value - General Rate £587,605
Sum represented by Penny Rate £ 2,388
The total number of hereditaments is 14,004 of which
80% are domestic dwellings providing 51% of the gross Rateable
Value of the town. The largest proportion of houses and flats
fall within the £20-£30 Rateable Value group i.e. 44% 30%
have a Rateable Value less than £20, and 26% a Rateable Value
above £30.
There are 2,207 commercial premises in the town
being 16% of the total hereditaments and providing 30% of the
gross Rateable Value.
The remaining premises totalling 517 are classified
as industrial, entertainment, public utility, educational and
miscellaneous.These provide 4% of the total and produce 19%
of the total Rateable Value.
Acknowledgment is due to Alderman McDonald, Chairman
of Finance Committee and Mr. A.R. Norris, F.I .M.T.A.
Borough Treasurer, for the above information which has been
obtained from the Abstract of Accounts for the year ended
31st March 1954.
2. Social Conditions.
The town of Kingeton-upon-Thames is a compact
commercial community bounded on the west by the River Thames,
on the north by Richmond Park and adjacent at the south-west
to Hampton Court Park with only the river intervening.
Although largely a market town, there is an
important industrial activity mainly in Aircraft and
Engineerings Some 40,000 persons live in the Borough, a
proportion of whom travel to London for business purposes
and who are accommodated in the more residential parts of
the town. Some excellent blocks of flats built by the
Corporation and privately help to house this section of the
community.
An outstanding factor influencing the social
conditions is the fact of full employment and Mr. P.R.Smith,
the Manager of the local Employment Exchange has kindly
provided the following information regarding employment in
Kingston and the surrounding districts.
"I am happy to be able to say again that the
employment position in the area is excellent and
was throughout the whole of 1954, except for a
short period in February when a spell of very cold
weather brought the building trade to a standstill.
Unemployment was low throughout the year and in the
period immediately before Christmas it was as low
as at any time since the War.At the beginning of
the year there were 503 men and 217 women
registered as unemployed but these figures had
fallen to 245 men and 103 women at the end of