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11
Pollution of the River Lee below Tottenham Lock has been the
subject of your Council's deliberations on various occasions. The several
Authorities concerned with the River and its tributaries have the matter
under investigation. It is hoped that as the result of their enquiries
and action arising thereout, that portion of the Lee below the Lock will
be cleansed and further pollution prevented.
The disposal of refuse is a subject that still requires careful consideration.
For some years, neighbouring Authorities were permitted
by the owner of vacant land adjoining Green Lanes to deposit refuse on
the site. The result is that an unsightly heap obstructs the view from
the back premises of many of the houses in Hermitage and adjacent roads.
Legislature does not provide against the private owner of land using it
in such a manner as seriously to impair the amenities of a District in
the manner described. It is submitted that it ought to be made
possible for Local Authorities to prohibit, subject to proper safeguards,
the use of land to the detriment of the community.
The method by which refuse should be disposed of has engaged
your attention, and the problem cannot yet be said to be definitely and
finally solved. Whilst the Destructor was undergoing renovation,
barging out of the District was resorted to. Prior to that, when the
Destructor was incapable of dealing with the amount daily being collected,
quantities were deposited on the Marshes. The increased housing
provision, and doubtless other factors, have rendered it impracticable
to deal with the whole of the house and shop refuse by incineration.
The Gravel Pit on the Devonshire Hill site has been taken advantage of
for the deposit of surplus shop refuse, road sweepings and gullyslop.
There can be no doubt of the propriety of having this Pit filled in. It
constitutes a huge receptacle for stagnant water where, but for the
precaution taken of spraying periodically with kerosene, opportunity is
given for the maturation of mosquito larvae. But it is respectfully
submitted that decaying and putrescible vegetable refuse should constitute
no part of the filling material. Apart frjm the offence that will
naturally arise from the odours of putrefaction, flies will find there a
favourable breeding ground. The menace of the fly pest is one that
must always be vigorously countered in view of the possibility of its
effect on Infant Mortality by Summer Diarrhoea, which, in its epidemic
incidence, is more easily avoided than remedied.
In Tottenham Park—an estate belonging to the Burial Board—there
is a Lake which, for all practical purposes, is stagnant. Ineffectual
representation has been made to the Board, asking them to have the Lake