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Section A—Natural and Social
Conditions of the District.
Area (in acres) 3,346
Number of inhabited houses (end of 1951)
according to Rate Books 16,749
Rateable Value at 31st December, 1951 £510,036
Sum represented by 1d. rate £2,065
THE Sanitary District, situated about midway between the Thames
and the North Downs, is roughly rectangular in shape. It is
approximately one mile in width and, commencing at a datum
level of 72 at the northern boundary, it extends for some five miles in
a southerly direction up the slope of the North Downs to a height of
450 feet above sea level.
The subsoil, which is clay in the northern part, changes to a sandy
gravel as one proceeds southwards, and then merges into chalk, which
covers the southern half of the district.
The River Wandle forms the eastern boundary in the northern
part and arises from several springs at the outcropping of the chalk
near the centre of the district. The increasing tendency to failure of
these springs resulting from the growing abstraction of water from the
London Basin has for many years past given rise to considerable concern,
both on the grounds of amenity and public health. The ponds and
ornamental waters fed by these springs are some 6 acres in extent,
whilst the river flows for a distance of nearly 3½ miles through the district.
In December, a public enquiry was held into an application of the
Croydon Borough Council to install increased pumping facilities at the
Surrey Street wells of their water undertaking. The opportunity was
taken at this enquiry, together with neighbouring authorities, of impressing
on the Minister's Inspector the grave concern which was felt by the
Council at the increasing depletion of the underground water resources
which directly, or indirectly, affect the maintenance of the water courses
of the district.
The district is to a large extent a dormitory area for London. Except
for the southern part, where a considerable area is included in the
Green Belt, it is highly urbanised, the housing density increasing as one
proceeds northwards. A limited amount of housing development,
restricted by the Green Belt, has taken place during the last 3 years
at the southern extremity on the Clockhouse Farm Estate. Except for
a very few small scattered areas of ground, the district is fully developed
if the existing open spaces, so essential to public health, are to be preserved.
The greater part of the housing accommodation is occupied
by the working classes, the London County Council's Estate comprising
5,600 dwellings, making a large contribution to this type of development.
The average rateable value per head of population is the lowest but
one in Surrey.
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