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STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE BOROUGH, 1958
Area in acres (including 116 acres of foreshore of River
Thames and 24 acres of inland water) 2,449.5
Population-Census 1931 62,617
Population-Census 1951 59,367
Population-Registrar-General's Estimate for area (mid 1958) 57,150
Number of Inhabited Houses according to Rate Book (April 1958) 16,179
Rateable Value at 1.4.1958 £1,176,864
Sum produced by Id. Rate (1957-1958) £4,739
The Borough is divided into nine Wards:
BRENTFORD: Brentford East
Brentford West
Brentford Central
CHISWICK: Chiswick Park
Grove Park
Bedford Park
Gunnersbury
Old Chiswick
Turnham Green
In the Borough of Brentford and Chiswick the eastern half is mainly residential
with a certain number of industrial buildings of the smaller type interspersed
throughout, while in the western half there is a highly industrialised
section chiefly situated along the Great West Road. There are 630 acres of
open space within the Borough with ample facilities for refreshment and recreation
both for the public in general and for the sporting activities of particular
groups.
The proportion of open space to the total area of the Borough is approximately
25% a very reasonable proportion for an urban area.
The residents of the Borough are of mixed categories including professional
and clerical people of all grades, artisans, factory workers etc., and the
types of dwellings vary from flatted houses and cottages to large detached
residences in their own surrounding grounds. The amount of slum property is
not considerable and progress is now being made with the demolition of houses
which are no longer fit for human habitation. The rehousing of the tenants in
council houses, details concerning assessment of slum dwellings, demolition and
the building of new houses are supplied later in this Report.
In the 1956 and 1957 Annual Reports it was possible to state that the number
of cases of statutory overcrowding known to the Public Health Department had
diminished, but in 1958 this was no longer the case and there was an increase
both in the number of people coming to complain of living in overcrowded conditions
and in the number actually proved to be statutorily overcrowded under the
terms of the Housing Act.
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