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(6) Fuel Requirements (Private Dwellings). Hie present London coal ration is
34 cwt. a year, but this quantity is rarely taken up by the average householder.
The maximum average consumption is considered to be 17 cwt. per
dwelling per year, and the lowest average consumption 13 cwt. On the assumption
that every unit in the area bums bituminous coal at the rate of 1 ton per
annum, the total estimated consumption is, therefore, approximately 2,774 tons
per annum The quantity of smokeless fuel to cover the requirements of the
area in question would, therefore, appear to be in the region of 53 tons per
week.
(7) Financial Provisions
Estimated total oost of adaptations in the area £30,090
Owners or occupiers (private owners and
County Council) contributions £9,027
Exchequer contributions £12,036
Borough Council contribution £9,027
By virtue of the Clean Air Act, 1956, (Appointed Day) Order 1958 the
remaining sections of the Act including the following came into operation on
the 1st June, 1958:-
DARK SMOKE
SECTION 1 (Prohibition of dark smoke from chimneys) makes the emission of dark
smoke from a chimney, including domestic chimneys, an offence. The emission
itself is an offence, and the question of a nuisance being caused and having to
be proved does not arise
Defences, (a) Lighting up from a cold furnace;
(b) Some unforeseeable and unavoidable failure of the furnace or
equipment;
(c) The use of unsuitable fuel, suitable fuel being unobtainable
Where a defendant seeks to avail himself of the defences (a) and (c) it is
also necessary for him to show that "all practicable steps had been taken to
prevent or minimise the emission of dark smoke".
The provisions of this section apply not only to the chimney of a building,
but also to the chimney serving the furnace of any boiler or industrial plant
attached to a building or for the time being fixed to or installed on any land.
SECTION 2 (Temporary exemptions from section one), enacts that for a period of
not more than seven years from the passing of the Act it will be a defence to
prove