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THE AIR WE BREATHE.
The smog which covered the Greater London area during
the early part of December in 1952, was accompanied by an
immediate rise both in illness and deaths, The number of
fatalities over and above those normally expected in the first
three weeks of December indicated that some 4,000 people died.
The Government appointed a Committee under the chairmanship
of Sir Hugh Beaver to investigate the whole question of
atmospheric pollution and subsequently the Clean Air Act was
passed in 1956. This Act provides for the establishment of
smoke control areas.
SMOKE CCNTROL - THE PLAN.
Smoke Control Areas can be established by Local
Authorities and the effect of an Order is to prohibit the
emission of smoke from chimneys in the designated area,
particularly the chimneys of houses, shops and offices.
Shortly after the coming into operation of the Clean Air Act,
the Maiden and Coombe Borough Council considered the problem of
pollution in the immediate locality and decided to proceed with
the introduction of Smoke Control Areas covering the whole of
the Borough by the end of 1972.
The Borough has been divided into 13 areas and each
area will be dealt with in turn thereby spreading the amount of
work to be done by the Council's staff, the builders, gas and
electricity staffs over a reasonable period and at the same
time spreading the cost to be borne by the Council and the
Exchequer over a number of years.
The Council decided to introduce Smoke Control Areas in
the first instance along the eastern side of the Borough and
commenced in the north with Kingston Vale. The whole of the
north-east part of the Borough extending from Kingston Vale to
Maiden Way is now covered by smoke control orders. By
selecting the eastern side of the Borough, the Council's Smoke
Control Areas unite with those already in existence or proposed
by the Borough of Richmond, Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth,
the Borough of Wimbledon, the Urban District of Merton and
Morden, and the Borough of Sutton and Cheam.
Already a large part of Greater London is subject to
smoke control orders and, whilst it is premature to draw
conclusions, it is noteworthy that there were fewer deaths in
the December 1962 smog compared with that of 1952.