View report page

11
many "landlords" (and landladies) will seek to evict the sub-tenants
rather than provide proper sinks and other necessary amenities.
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES
There has been little change in the amount of work carried out to
preserve the general amenities of the district. Indiscriminate dumping
of rubbish and discarded articles is a frequent source of complaint.
There are no facilities in the area for the disposal of the type of
refuse and rubbish which does not come within the category of "household
refuse". The Council itself is faced with the problem of disposal
of incombustible waste to a final dump outside the area. Wherever
possible salvage is practised, but articles such as worn-out tyres, water
cisterns, basket chairs, etc., have little value and find their way on to
odd pieces of waste land, behind fences and down back passages. This
problem is to receive consideration by the Public Health Committee
in the near future.
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
There were two main sources of atmospheric pollution. The first
was our own Refuse Destructor chimney. Although not actually
creating much trouble in this borough, repeated complaints were
received from the adjoining Borough of Richmond, and the Borough of
Brentford and Chiswick. Trouble arises mainly from the change in
the nature of refuse now being burned, and the increased withdrawal
of valuable commodities for salvage purposes, reducing the amount of
combustible material in the refuse. At certain times of the year, too,
excessive proportions of damp garden refuse make more smoke inevitable.
The Public Health Committee were very concerned about
this state of affairs, and arrangements are now well in hand for the
provision of water type dust traps to counteract the nuisance as much as
possible.
The other main source of pollution was from similar operations,
i.e., the refuse disposal arrangements of the Hammersmith Borough
Council. Nuisance arose when refuse was tipped into barges moored
in the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge. Much more satisfactory
arrangements are now in force, all refuse being transferred to special
road vehicles, and tipping into barges has been discontinued.
There are a few chimneys in the district which give trouble, but
no undue difficulty has been experienced in dealing with these. Excessive
smoke usually means lost efficiency and fuel wastage, and managements
react accordingly.
This district was badly affected by the great fog which lasted
several days in December. The number of deaths from respiratory
causes in the material period was 13 as compared with three deaths
from similar causes during the same period in 1951. Whilst this