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5
The Housing (Underground Booms) Act, 1959, which restored to local
authorities the necessary powers to deal with underground rooms which did not
comply with Regulations made by them, was a very welcome piece of legislation
The Minister, however, circulated Draft Model Regulations, and in a letter
accompanying this draft, requested local authorities to review their own
existing Regulations After the fullest possible consideration, this Council
decided that its own Regulations provided for a much higher standard than the
Model and informed the Minister that it wished to retain them. Unfortunately
the Minister ruled that the Council's Regulations were no longer valid. The
result of the Minister's subsequent consultations with the associations of
local authorities on the Draft Model are not yet known
An important piece of new legislation was the House Purchase and Housing
Act, 1959, which, in addition to simplifying the system of discretionary
improvement grants, made provision for the payment of standard grants.
In the introduction to my report for the year 1958, I referred to the
Rent Act, 1957 and to the difficulties which were being encountered in cases
where tenants of de-controlled dwellings had signed agreements which involved
them in full responsibility for carrying out repairs to structure and drainage
as well as the usual internal repairs. In this connection cases have recently
been brought to our notice where the agreements make tenants responsible for
complying with all notices served by the local authority
Atmospheric Pollution. In connection with the Council's Clean Air Campaign,
an event of some importance during the year was the opening of the Clean Air
Centre in a prefabricated bungalow in Florfield Road, at the rear of the Town
Hall. This centre provides office accommodation for the Clean Air Inspector
and some other members of the staff of the Clean Air section of the Department,
as well as being a permanent Exhibition and information bureau. The opening
ceremony was performed by His Worship The Mayor, (Councillor A. Heath), on
Saturday, 7th March, and was attended by Members of Parliament for Hackney and
neighbouring boroughs, Members of the Council, representatives of the Gas and
Electricity undertakings, fuel merchants, the Solid Smokeless Fuels Federation,
the Womens' Advisory Council on Solid Fuels, the Coal utilisation Council, the
Press and of other interested bodies as well as Chief Officers of the Council.
A short Address was given by the Chairman of the Public Health Committee,
Alderman B Cohen, who stressed the Council's very deep enthusiasm for a
cleaner atmosphere, and the desire that the whole of the Borough be covered
by Smoke Control Orders with the minimum delay. The Medical Officer of Health
also spoke and explained what smoke control zones mean in practice, and
particularly how they affect the individual householder.
In Circular No. 5/59 received from the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government, the Minister expressed the hope that it would be possible to
make faster progress in regard to the establishment of Smoke Control Areas,
particularly in the "black areas" where pollution is worst. He requested
Councils in these Areas to consider their domestic smoke problem as a whole,
to decide on the number of Smoke Control Orders necessary, the order of
priority in which they should be made, and the total number of years it would
take to finish the job; he further asked that Councils should prepare a phased
programme for the establishment of Smoke Control Areas over the next five
years. Having considered the contents of this Circular, the Council accepted
the Public Health Committee's recommendation that, subject to the requisite
financial resources, the whole Borough be covered by Smoke Control Orders
within a period of five years, ending in the Autumn of 1965. The position
at the time of writing is that the Hackney No. 1 Central Smoke Control Order
covering 150 acres has been operative since 1st September, 1959, the No. 2
Order covering some 208 acres will become operative on the 1st October next,
and it is hoped that the Council will, in October of this year, make the
necessary Order relating to the No. 3 Area comprising 689 acres, to become
operative in October, 1961.