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103
Environmental Health

SHOPS ACTS, 1950 AND 1965
The provisions of the Shops Acts relating to health and welfare were repealed by the Offices,
Shops and Railway Premises Act, 1963, but the sections dealing with Half-day and Sunday closing
Hours of Employment, etc., are still in force.
While it is appreciated that shopkeepers do not remain open unless there is a customer demand
to be satisfied, the Local Authority is responsible for enforcing the law. Complaints are often made
of unfair trading by law-abiding shopkeepers against a rival trader who is opening outside permitted
hours.
Legal proceedings were instituted in respect of one offence concerning trading on the half-closing
day and two offences for trading on a Sunday. Fines of £1 (the maximum permitted), £8, and £5,
respectively were imposed.
NOISE
The increasing level of noise is undoubtedly one of the major problems of modern living. Apart
from aircraft noise, 60 complaints of nuisance from noise were received, a considerable increase on
the 25 received during 1967.
A representative attended the International Congress on Noise Abatement held in London
during May 1968. The papers and discussions showed that the problem was universal in developed
countries and that in general the causes of the noise nuisance are identical.
Perhaps the Congress stimulated Government interest for in 1968 they published a revised edition
of "Noise and the Worker" and two new booklets "Reducing Noise in Buildings" and "Noise Control
on Building Sites".
In Circular 59/68 of November 1968 the Ministry of Housing and Local Government drew
attention to the fact that concrete breakers could be muffled to reduce noise emission, and asked all
local authorities to press for this to be done. This has been departmental policy for some time and
was referred to in the 1967 Annual Report.
Complaints of noise were in general resolved by informal action; but it was necessary to obtain
a Nuisance Order from the local Magistrates in connection with noise from a dance club and Abatement
Notices have been served in respect of two industrial noise nuisances. It was not possible to take
legal proceedings in respect of one of these notices because the Company concerned had left their
registered office and could not be found. An interesting development in the investigation of noise
complaints was the use of a sealed tape recorder to establish the existence of a nuisance.
In February the attention of all the known itinerant vendors of ice cream was drawn to the
provisions of the Act relating to chimes from vehicles. The letter referred both to the restrictions
on hours of use and to the actual volume of sound. The letter appeared to achieve the desired effect.