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41
of the Banister Street Areas and to provide on these sites accommodation
sufficient for all the persons to be displaced from these areas
and for a certain number of persons to be displaced from other areas
not suitable for rebuilding but included in the Council's provisional
proposals relating to slum clearance. With this end in view the
Borough Council added to the areas described as Banister Street
Areas Nos. 1 and 2 certain adjacent shop properties, thus securing
a site suitable in the area for the erection of blocks of flats capable
of housing 1,142 persons.
The Borough Council therefore submitted to the Minister of
Health for confirmation three Compulsory Purchase Orders, and
an enquiry into the subject matter of the Orders was held on the
21st and 22nd June, 1932. In December, 1932, the Minister informed
the Council that he had decided to confirm the Compulsory
Purchase Orders relating to the two clearance areas but would not
confirm Compulsory Order No. 3 in view of the probable high cost
of acquisition of the properties included and to the fact that he did
not consider the inclusion of these properties essential to enable
the Council to discharge their rehousing obligations. The action
of the Minister had the effect of reducing the rehousing capacity
of the sites from 1,142 to 448 persons and so defeated the object
of the Council which was to clear the slums with as little delay
as possible.
However, by 1934 the Council had erected 198 flats at Powell
House on a site acquired by compulsory purchase and in these
flats persons displaced from Banister Street and other Areas were
rehoused. The building of 160 flats on the cleared Banister Street
site was also commenced.
In some cases persons from the Borough Council clearance
areas were rehoused by the London County Council through a
system of agreements whereby the London County Council provided
the accommodation and claimed the Government subsidy, the
Borough Council having the right to nominate the new tenant in
the event of the accommodation becoming vacant at any time
during the period for which the subsidy was payable.
During 1934 the London County Council took over as the
High Hill Ferry Area four small areas which I had previously
"represented" separately as Harrington Hill, Little Hill, Retreat
Cottages and Spring Lane and a further area, Broadway (London
Fields) Area, was informally "represented" by me and in 1935
taken over by the London County Council. This latter area comprised
127 unfit houses.
By the end of 1934, the five-year programme adopted in 1930,
under which the London County Council were to deal with four
areas and the Borough Council with 16 areas, had been completed,