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103
suitably be dealt with under Part T of the Housing Act, 1930,
by acquisition, clearance and reconstruction. The smaller
groups do not afford sites of sufficient size for the erection of
block dwellings and would by the normal procedure of the
1930 Act be dealt with by clearance orders. The sites would
be left with the owners, who in many instances would not be
in a position to redevelop them to advantage ; and such
piecemeal treatment would perpetuate the bad planning of
the district, which is the fundamental obstacle in the way
of an effective and permanent remedy of the existing evils.
The only satisfactory alternative would be a general redevelopment
of the whole district on modern lines, involving the
closing of some of the streets, the widening and improvement
of others, the provision of open spaces and the re-arrangement
of housing, industrial and commercial user.
(ii) Redevelopment Areas
Any large scale project of this nature would be impracticable
under the limited powers of the 1930 Act, and special
legislation would have been necessary, but the Housing Act,
1935, provides in the general law an entirely new procedure
for dealing with extensive areas which it is expedient to
redevelop as a whole. By section 13 of the Act it is the duty
of a local authority to declare as a redevelopment area any area
in its district with regard to which it is satisfied as a result of
an inspection that the following conditions exist:—(a) that the
area contains 50 or more working class houses ; (b) that at
least one-third of the working-class houses in the area are
overcrowded, or unfit for human habitation and not capable
at reasonable expense of being rendered so fit, or so arranged
as to be congested ; (c) that the industrial and social conditions
of the local authority's district are such that the area should
be used to a substantial extent for rehousing ; and (d) that it
is expedient in connection with the provision of housing
accommodation that the area should be redeveloped as a
whole.
(iii) Proposed Redevelopment Area in Bethnal
Green
Since the passing of the 1935 Act, the Housing and Public
Health Committee have given close attention to the question
of applying the redevelopment provisions of the Act to the
part of East London to which earlier reference has been made.
Any project of this nature could not possibly be contemplated
in one step or within any specified number of years. The utilisation
of 20½ acres of Hackney Marsh for housing purposes makes
it possible, however, for consideration to be given to a definite