DERELICT INDUSTRIAL SITES (Hansard, 26 April 1967)

§ Mr. Robert Howarth (Bolton, East)
The problems arising from derelict industrial sites not only affect my constituency in Lancashire, but are of interest to the whole country, especially to those older industrial areas where most of the sites are located.
My interest in the subject was first aroused by a tragedy that took place in January in the very district in my constituency where I live. It occurred on the site of an old mill that had been cleared away. A group of young boys of 10 or 11 years of age had over some little time dug themselves what they called a "den". It fell in, and one of them was not rescued in time and so lost his life.
That brought to my mind a similar tragedy that occurred in my constituency in May, 1963. It was the day of the local elections, which I was contesting, and it was a beautful day. The children were on holiday because the schools were being used as polling stations, and two little girls, living in the ward I was contesting, who were playing alongside a disused canal, fell into it, and were drowned. I hope that my hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Secretary will allow me to include these watercourses in my remarks, because in the older areas they are, if anything, even more dangerous than the old buildings.
Following the tragedy in January, I looked into the matter. I had correspondence with both my hon. Friend and the local authority, and I must say that I am not satisfied that local authorities are able to tackle this problem as I think it ought to be tackled. The subject of this debate is of widespread interest, and I speak on it from my observation of conditions in Lancashire, from the knowledge I have gained in travelling throughout the country, from the many reports by my hon. Friends that I have read, and from the Press generally.
The debris of the first Industrial Revolution is of a character that deserves special attention. I want, in the main, to confine my remarks to the problems 1564 of which I know most and with which I am directly concerned—those in South Lancashire. It will come as news to no one that the twin pillars on which South Lancashire built its prosperity—cotton textiles and coal mining—have left behind them some of the greatest dangers to our children. I speak with feeling here, not only because of the tragedies occurring near to me but because I have young children—one of them a boy—and we all know the attraction that sites of that type have for children.
The cotton mills of Lancashire are mainly multi-storeyed buildings. Many of them are now derelict and have been abandoned. It is true that some are still being used, but the others are not. They are falling into a state of great disrepair and are very dangerous, particularly if children get into them. Even where the buildings have been demolished there remains the danger, not always appreciated, of the cellars. When buildings are removed, the cellars are not always dealt with satisfactorily and become a target for young children. They are potentially very dangerous. I must point out that the tragedy that took place in January was not directly concerned with the cellars of the old mill that had been cleared, but resulted from the children digging on the piece of land where the mill had originally stood.
Another danger from the old textile mills, which may not always be appreciated in other parts of the country, comes from what we call the mill lodges. These are large reservoirs which all mills at one time required to feed their boilers and to supply water for the various textile processes, such as bleaching. These lodges very often remain for long after the mills have disappeared. One reason for that is that they have been incorporated over the years into the water drainage system. We are now going back to the founding of the industry and to times well over 100 years ago.
It is very difficult to get these lodges drained, and in South Lancashire they take their regular toll of young children—to say year after year is not an exaggeration. The children play on the edges of the lodges, fall in, and are drowned. At whatever cost, these lodges should be drained and filled in as soon as possible. The danger presented by 1565 those still in use can generally be overcome by adequate fencing.
I have referred to the tragedy of the two little girls who fell into the canal, and there is no doubt that the older industrial areas are plagued with disused canals which are a terrible danger to children. I am sorry to widen my remarks so much in this way, but I trust that my hon. Friend will bear with me, and appreciate our concern.
Although little of the debris from coal mining remains in my constituency, adjoining constituencies have their fair share of problems resulting from former mining activities. There are derelict buildings, though, in general, the shafts have been well bricked up and are difficult to enter. Perhaps the greatest danger resulting from the old coal mining activities results from subsidence. What we in Lancashire call "flashes"—areas of water that have collected in subsidences—represent a terrible danger to children. I need only remind hon. Members that a few winters ago, in the Wigan area, when children were playing on the frozen flashes the ice gave way and more than half a dozen of them were drowned.
So far, I have spoken only of the dangers from sites, but there is also the related question of appearance, of the effect on the amenity of an area, an effect which is often most unfortunate, to put it mildly. While in most areas local authorities are comprehensively redeveloping and rebuilding the centres of towns and making them once again an attractive environment, many textile mills, and certainly the coal mines, are on the peripheries of towns and not in the centre. The mills are often spread throughout the district.
It is precisely this probem which concerns me. While I am confident that local authorities will be able to deal with the problem of comprehensive development of the centre of towns, satisfactorily as a rule, on the outskirts of towns the problem is acute. The tragedy of January took place in such a district not far from my home, a district where the prospects of comprehensive development are decades away. The area of the town where the mill was demolished is quite pleasant, but the site has been left in an unattractive state, mainly because the 1566 work was taken on by private developers whose money ran out, I think, so that the local authority was left not only with a dangerous but with an unsightly site to which citizens have every right to object strongly.
Lancashire loses all ways. Not only do we have the problem of the declining industries of textiles and coal mines, but, as they disappear, they leave behind eyesores which are dangerous and which add to the unattractive image of the old towns of Lancashire. It is no wonder that young people, particularly if they have had higher or further education, do not return to Lancashire. I know that that is connected with employment opportunities, but it is also related to the unattractive environment which is a legacy of the Industrial Revolution in Lancashire.
In passing, I pay tribute to those who are trying to recover our land from the treatment of past abuse. I refer to a report which was sent to all hon. Members some weeks ago by the British Ecological Society, headed: Treating derelict land and industrial wastes". I believe that that organisation set up a sub-committee a couple of years ago to go into the problems of dereliction arising from industrial waste, the extraction of coal, iron, building stone, chemical waste, domestic refuse tips, and so on.
It is a fascinating report, which is linked with what I am saying. Perhaps my hon. Friend will be able to comment on it and, if he cannot do so because I have not given him warning that I would mention it, perhaps he would care to read it and then comment. There are many people who are concerned about this subject of industrial dereliction and I hope that this report will receive the full attention of my hon. Friend and his colleagues.
Time is pressing and I want to leave my hon. Friend full opportunity to reply. I should not like to conclude this short debate without paying tribute to the Government for the action which they have already taken in the relocation of industry, about which we had a useful debate on Monday, and for their special assistance in housing to areas such as mine—I have already mentioned central 1567 and comprehensive redevelopment. Tribute should also be paid to the Government's record in encouraging cultural building and activity in all parts of the country during their two and a half years of office.
I hope that I have been able to draw attention to a pressing problem which is serious and which worries many people in my constituency and all the older industrial areas. The community must accept responsibility at both a national and local level. Private and public authorities must accept their responsibilities and, with a combined operation, we can begin to remove the dangers and effect the improvements which we all want.
I conclude by reading extracts from a short letter which appeared, quite unsolicited, in the local newspaper two nights ago and which succinctly sums up the points which I have been trying to make. It is a letter from the father of a little boy of 4 who, last week, was missing for a number of hours. This was in an old town adjoining Bolton. The father explained how he went with the police and neighbours to look for his little boy and he wrote: I saw derelict houses and church halls—deathtraps to the wandering child—evil smelling eyesores, decaying, rotting floorboards and loose roofs—nightmares of places urging the innocent to 'come and be harmed'. But as my son did not seem to be there, I searched on and came to even greater dangers; the mill lodges which have served their purpose. At nine o'clock my boy was found, unharmed; our mental torture was over and our family was one again. Or was it? These death traps for children remain, and will remain much longer if we do not do something about them. I ask my hon. Friend to take note of what I have said and, as soon as possible, to propose action which will help local authorities and private bodies to remove these dangers.

§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Mr. James MacColl)
I am sure that the House would want to express its appreciation to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, East (Mr. Robert Howarth) for raising this matter, and for showing by the manner in which he has done so—this is no surprise to those of 1568 us who know him well—his deep concern for the safety and health of his constituents and the determination with which he pursues this matter. He has been in correspondence with me about these general problems for some time and I am not surprised that he should have wanted to raise the issue on the Ajournment. I am very happy to be able to give him as much assistance as I can about the problem.
I know that one of the things about which my hon. Friend is impatient is the lack of information which I have been able to give him about the size of the problem. We have no detailed breakdown of the statistics. We have been in touch with the General Register Office which has given us figures for the total number of deaths of childen under 15. It can tell us how many of these have occurred in mines and quarries and how many in industrial places or premises, but within those categories it cannot distinguish between derelict and other industrial sites, nor give figures about open water courses.
I have the figures for the last 10 years and I shall be happy to give them to my hon. Friend. I will not give them all in detail now in the short time which we have to discuss the matter. In the years 1963, 1964 and 1965, the numbers for mines and quarries were nine, three and three while for industrial places and premises they were five, four and nine. In relative terms those figures do not seem to be very great, not compared with road deaths and other dangers, but that is no answer to anyone who suffers a bereavement of this sort and it is no reason for any of us to be complacent about doing all we can to improve the position.
One of the difficulties is that some of the obvious dangers can be fairly easily removed by the erection of walls and by barricading premises. However, where this is done it is a direct challenge to the younger generation to remove such obstacles to their progress. The House might be inclined to say that small boys should not do such things, but I suspect that neither my hon. Friend nor I should be the first to cast a stone. Any attempt to prevent the young from getting somewhere they want to go to is a reason for their trying it. Often the tragedy is that it is the young, vigorous and lively boys who do such things and who get themselves into these serious dangers.
1569 I do not want to preach a sermon. I would only mention what the coroner is reported as having said in the tragic case of Stephen Hall, my hon. Friend's constituent: I hope that parents and others, if they are aware or have reason to suspect that their children are engaged in any operations of digging tunnels or caves in similar situations, will bring the operations to an end. However attractive it may be to the young children, it is a very serious danger because the ground can collapse at any time. Short of vigilance on the part of parents, the training of children, and persuading them to see these dangers, there is probably no way, however much care is taken, of getting rid of all these problems.
The House would like to know that there are powers for dealing with these difficulties. If the source of danger is on land adjoining a street and is a danger to persons using the street, under Section 144 of the Highways Act, 1959, a local authority can serve a notice on the owner of the land requiring him to do the necessary work and itself step in and do it if he does not do it.
Where the dangers are away from a street, if the owner co-operates, the local authority can consider whether the cost of necessary work is expenditure it can incur under Section 6 of the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act, 1963. This provides the power to spend money in the general interests of the inhabitants. A local authority must watch that there are no other powers enabling it to do this.
In the case of mines and quarries, under Section 151 of the Mines and Quarries Act, 1954, certain unfenced mineshafts and quarries which are accessible from a highway or place of public resort are deemed to be statutory nuisances and the local authority can step in under the Public Health Act.

§ Mr. Peter Mahon (Preston, South)
Is not a waiting time involved? Is the local authority supposed to stay its hand until it can see that the person concerned will not take action, even when there is danger? Or can the local authority under the Act take immediate action to abate the danger?

§ Mr. MacColl
The Public Health Act empowers a local authority to step in and abate the nuisance. It is for the clerk to the authority to judge whether the authority can satisfy the court that it is acting properly.
1570 My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, East raised the general question of attack on derelict land, apart from the particular question of mill lodges. We have introduced a specific grant of 50 per cent. for areas which are not in development areas. Not only my constituency in Lancashire, but my hon. Friend's constituency, is able to get the grant. We have issued Circular No. 17/67 asking local authorities to conduct a survey of their areas and produce a programme of what areas should be attacked. In particular, the National Coal Board has co-operated and is offering its know-how to us. We are now waiting for the local authorities to reply to our circular and give us the information on which we can prepare the programme. There is the backing of grant in appropriate cases.
My hon. Friend raised the question of danger to amenity. Circular 52/65, dated 6th July, 1965, also emphasised the danger of drowning and again reminded local authorities of their powers. My hon. Friend knows which Government were in power on 6th July, 1965, because he became a Member of the House only a few months before that. This shows that we have not been complacent, but have taken the initiative.
We are waiting a response to these circulars. We are anxious to do what we can to help. It is not enough merely to regard this as a problem to be solved by stopping access. That is important, but, unless it is accompanied by the training and education of children in matters of safety, nothing we do will get over these difficulties.
My hon. Friend mentioned canals. I live on one. I know from experience that the best way of luring children to a canal is to erect a notice saying, "Trespassers will be prosecuted. No admittance". The challenge is immediately created for children to get to the canal. The problem cannot be dealt with in a purely negative way.
We are aware of the problem. Hon. Members have pressed us about it. We have sent a note to the local authority associations specifically referring to the Bolton case as being one of the few which would appear not to be covered by the Highways Act. There is some doubt whether it is covered. We have asked local authorities for their views. If they have evidence that the existing powers 1571 need to be strengthened, we would like to consult them in the hope that more can be done.
Nobody could be complacent about the present position. The waste of life from these accidents is appalling. If we can find a way of assisting, we want to do 1572 so. We want neither to be complacent nor to give the impression that there is nothing that local authorities can do.