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16
It should be remembered that in the London Smog incident of
1952 it is estimated that an extra 4,000 people in the Greater London
area died on account of fog associated with atmospheric pollution.
Again in early December, 1957, three days of fog and atmospheric
pollution combined to cause an estimated 800 to 1,000 extra deaths
in Greater London. It is reliably estimated that the cost to the nation
through damage to buildings, plant life, fabrics and materials, increased
laundry costs, road, rail and air traffic delays, etc., amounts to £300
million per year.
This smoke control measure is long overdue and it is hoped that
it will be welcomed by all thinking residents. An objection which is
sometimes voiced is founded on the widely held belief that coke fires
emit poisonous sulphur fumes. When it is remembered that coke is
produced from coal only and that nothing is added it will be clear
that coal must also contain at least the same proportion of sulphur.
However, when raw coal is burned the smell of the sulphur fumes is
masked by the smoke. If such fumes are present in a room when coke
is burned they must also be present when coal is burned and will do
as much or more damage when combined with smoke.
The moral is that all flues must be efficient and properly maintained
whether coal or coke is burned.
At the time of writing this report the Council had adopted in
principle the creation of Smoke Control Areas throughout the whole
of the District over a period of ten years.
Whilst progress must necessarily be slow and the overall cost
seem large, smoke control is both a sound economic and social proposition
and an insurance against a repetition of the tragic circumstances
of the smogs of past years, when the causes and effects were not clearly
understood. The results so far obtained, in those progressive areas
where private Acts of Parliament enabled smoke control schemes to
be established, fully justify the expense and trouble involved in the
change over. Needless to say, no schemes of conversion will be put
into effect until all problems of supply and adequacy of appropriate
fuels have been met. Where the cost of the tenants share would bear
harshly on people of limited means, such as old age pensioners, the
Council may consider enlarging the proportion of the grant payable
in such cases.
There will be ample provision for discussion and explanation of
the details of the scheme when the programme has been settled.
SECTION ‘D’ — HOUSING
Action to secure the Closing or Demolition of unfit properties
has proceeded slowly. One house which was closed as not being
repairable at a ‘reasonable’ expense, having regard to the rent being
paid under the controlled tenancy, was sold as soon as the tenants