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21.
Street cleansing is 'becoming more and more difficult because of
the impossibility of recruiting sufficient sweepers. The establishment
allows for twenty men but on many days as few as seven were available
for this work. Consequently the target of each road being swept once
per week has not been attained. It follows that when they are swept at
longer intervals there is more dirt to pick up, particularly after
gritting, which again retards the programme. It is patently clear
that mechanical aid must be enlisted to supplement the manual labour
force. This will be much easier and more economical for the large
organisation that the Borough of Waltham Forest will have. A further
method of augmenting the labour force may be in the employment of women
sweepers. A few Councils have already done this with success. Costs
and operational statistics of street and gully cleansing are set out in
Appendix 'C'.
During 1963 the Council continued the transition from side-loading
and moving floor refuse collection freighters to the more efficient and
larger capacity compression vehicles. They cost more but three will do
the work of six of the others and by their use, the collection staff has
been reduced by almost 10^o despite a big increase in the volume of refuse.
There has been a financial saving but much of this has been masked by
wage increases, the additional cost of taking refuse to the tip at
Broxbourne and the tipping charges there. This tipping was introduced
to lessen the load on the incineration plant at the Refuse Works so that
a water spray could be installed to reduce grit and ash emission from
the chimney. The spray has been most successful in doing this but only
closure of the Works will eliminate all nuisance to the neighbourhood.
Cost and operational statistics of collection, disposal and salvage are
set out in Appendices 'D' and 'E'.
G. HOLMES
Chief Public Health Inspector.