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RODENT CONTROL
There was no change during the year in the Council's policy of carrying out work free
of cost at domestic premises; offering technical services to business and industrial premises
where a commercial operator was retained, or carrying out the work at economic charge
where it was within the scope of the Council staff.
Sewers were test baited twice during the year, in June and December. 10 per cent, of
the total sewer manholes were tested and maintenance (i.e. pre-baiting and poisoning)
treatments were carried out immediately after each test. Infestation of the sewer by rats
remained slight.
NOISE NUISANCE
Seven complaints were received of noise from factories, in some cases involving visits
at night or early morning. Two complaints were not confirmed, four were abated after
informal action, and one after service of Statutory Notice.
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
Measurement of the pollution of the atmosphere has been carried out regularly month
by month at separate stations set up on three sites in the Borough. At Jubilee Gardens on
the north side and Recreation Ground on the south side, gauges for the measurement of the
sulphur gases in the air are in operation and in Hortus Cemetery a machine for estimating
the quantity of grit and dust deposited from the atmosphere.
In view of the number of complaints received concerning the alleged smoke nuisance
from the railway sidings, plans were approved for further deposit gauges to be erected in
the railway allotments and a new primary school further west which would give a comparison
between the atmospheric pollution at those sites, against that found in parts of the Borough.
The figures from this are recorded for November and December and are shown in the Table
on page 33.
The figures obtained for atmospheric pollution by sulphur gases show a slight improvement
over the year, especially during the months of March, September and October and the
usual mid-summer dip in the figures for pollution by sulphur gases appears. The results
from the deposit gauges were by no means satisfactory, however. There was a considerable
increase in the total amount of solids deposited, in fact, this was the worst year as yet recorded
in this respect, figures from 1950 being as follows :—
Total solids deposited—average for each year:
1950 1350 1953 1067
1951 1295 1954 14'30
1952 1193
It will be seen that the figures were decreasing regularly until this year. A great deal
of work was carried out during 1954 with regard to complaints of pollution from individual
factories, and the railway sidings. Details can be found in the table on page 37.
It can be seen, however, from Graph E that the pollution in Southall still compares
very favourably with that in the centre of London and in industrial Sheffield.
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