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Clean Air Act, 1956/1968.
During 1971, 218 complaints were received of smoke or grit
emissions and the necessary observations were made and remedial
action taken.
Twelve notices of proposals to instal a furnace, to which
Section 3 (1) of the Act applied, were received and the installations
were inspected and recorded.
Section 6 of the Clean Air Act, 1968, authorises the local authority
to approve or disapprove an application in respect of the height of a
chimney without reference to the Building Regulations. I was authorised
by the Council to act in accordance with the new provisions,
and of eleven applications received during the year, all were approved.
Legal Proceedings.
Proceedings under Section 1 of the Clean Air Act, 1968, were
taken against a firm of demolition contractors for burning wood on
site from which was emitted dark smoke. The case was dismissed;
the defendants proving the statutory defence that the offence was
inadvertent and that all practical steps had been taken to avoid a
nuisance.
Measurement of Atmospheric Pollution.
Eight 8-port instruments are maintained by the Health Department,
and these are sited in approved positions within the Borough.
These instruments, which record smoke density and sulphur-dioxide
contained in the atmosphere are visited weekly. Recordings are standardised,
and results are sent monthly to the Department of Trade
and Industry, Warren Spring Laboratory. The graphs which appeared
in the Annual Report, 1970, have not been shown this year, but the
levels for smoke and sulphur dioxide are similar to those shown for
1970. It is clear that since the Clean Air Act became law in 1956
there has been a steady reduction in emissions into the air, but there
is still an urgent need for a more vigorous application of the Clean
Air Acts in some areas of Great Britain. So much depends upon an
adequate supply of the right fuels, and I believe that with the ever
increasing use of natural gas for domestic heating, a still further improvement
in the condition of the atmosphere can be achieved in this
field.
Smoke Control Areas.
In the Annual Report 1970, I referred to the suspension by the
Council of 11 Smoke Control Orders due to a shortage in the supply
of solid smokeless fuel. This suspension was in fact in operation
until 31st March, 1971. In addition, the Health Committee having
recommended that the making of Smoke Control Order No. 19 be
deferred until adequate supplies of such fuel were available, no advancement
in initial survey work was made in the early months of
1971. In September the Health Committee received Department of
the Environment Circular 53/71, which, inter aha, expressed the hope
that local authorities would resume their programmes, the solid
smokeless fuel situation having been resolved.
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