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104
scheme of redevelopment, and it is considered that a commencement
should be made with an area of about 46 acres
in the northern part of Bethnal Green. This area has been
selected for the following reasons, apart from conditions necessary
for compliance with the Act:—(1) The dwellings to
be erected on the 20½ acres of Hackney Marsh can be utilised
for rehousing persons displaced from clearance and other
areas in Hackney and other neighbouring boroughs, the sites
of which can, in turn, be utilised for rehousing persons displaced
from the proposed redevelopment area ; (2) the new
dwellings to be erected on the proposed redevelopment area
could be utilised for rehousing in connection with further
redevelopment areas or clearance areas in more congested
districts to the south ; (3) the redevelopment of the area now
in question could be considered either as part of a larger
redevelopment scheme or as a complete scheme in itself
without committing the Council to an extension on similar
lines.
The area, which is intersected from north to south by
Cambridge Road and from east to west by Hackney Road
and Bishop's Road, lies between the Regent's Canal on the
north and Old Bethnal Green Road on the south. With the
exception of the gas containers belonging to the Gas Light
and Coke Company adjoining the canal, the area comprises
all the property on the north side of Hackney Road and
Bishop's Road between the Council's Dinmont estate (Teale
Street area) on the west, and Wellington estate (Waterloo
House site) in Bishop's Road on the east. On the south side
of Hackney Road and Bishop's Road, the area is bounded on
the east by Russia Lane and on the west by Temple Street,
the southern boundary being the Council's Bethnal Green
hospital and Old Bethnal Green Road.
The portion of the area north of Hackney Road and Bishop's
Road is composed of a heterogeneous collection of dwelling
houses, commercial properties and industry, whilst the portion
of the area south of Hackney Road consists, in the main, of
a large block of old residential property with some infiltration
of industry. The remaining portion of the area south
of Bishop's Road mainly comprises a block of residential
property which, except for a number of unfit houses, is generally
of a somewhat better character than the remainder of the
residential property in the area. It may be possible for a
number of the better conditioned houses in this part of the
area to be acquired and utilised temporarily as rehousing
accommodation in connection with the Council's clearance
operations and the abatement of overcrowding. The whole
area is a typical example of the results of the uncontrolled