UGLINESS WILL GO.

Evening Post, Issue 2, 2 July 1932, Page 15

UGLINESS WILL GO.

ENGLISH; COUNTRYSIDE

SCAPA SOCIETY'S WORK

That thp beauty of the British Isles will not be permanently disfigured as a result of modern transport. and its attendant evils--iiiseparablo from so' vast a. transition in human affairs—is evident from.the latest report of the Seapa. Society. ■ .- : .

With regard to ■•hoardings,-'etc.,' tho report states incidentally" that "it is the'prevention' of .the abuses of; adver-' tising, not its abolition, that is tho society's object." There were many ways of advertising without disfiguring town or country, and if those ways alono were adopted amenity would be protected and commerce not be injured. . :. The report presents a statement showing the number and percentage of local authorities .in. England and Wales that havb exercised their powers and made bylaws. Fifty-eight, of the 63 counties havo adopted bylaws. The lead of the-counties is penetrating-to the boroughs and; cities, but there is a long way still to- gb',V only- seventeen of 83 county, boroughs and 43 of 256 municipal boroughs having taken action' Of 261 urban districts with population over .10,000 only 53 have bylaws,' but all; these figures show an advance in the. society's aim. '■-",',. .■.v.:.i " ; v.i'Thai enforcement, of othe-, ,lJylaws', too; I'says the'report, "isbeebmingdecidedly more vigorous, land lpeal authorities are beginning to realise th.at;;th6'public'dp wish the amenities of town and', country to be preserved. The society's' experience, indeed, is that ;countycouncils iii general are now exceedingly helpful and -ready to take tho i necessary steps when cases- of disfigurement are reported to them- by the society or by members of the public."ln the- towns tho position is-less satisfactory; Civic pride undoubtedly exists in very many places, but it does not find expression as often as it should in measures to make a town more beautiful. London and its environs (to go no further) are small cause of satisfaction to its citizens in this respect, while the position of the county boroughs—places surely, of sufficient importance to cultivate a measure of aesthetic dignity and self-respect—is the lowest of any, so far as the making of advertisements regulation bylaws is concerned. It is much to be'regretted that cities such as (for instance) Oxford, Southampton, Eastbourne, and Bournemouth, by failing to make such bylaws, are practically defenceless against any outdoor, advertising vulgarity. At the same time, it must be "admitted -that the making of satisfactory: bylaws, regulating advertisements in towns is hedged about with technical difficulties, and some more positive method of control may eventually bo found necessary. . ,

"In contrast to England'and Wales, Scotland is still practically defenceless against the grossest excesses of outdoor advertising. That Scotland "should he allowed to remain permanently ivithout any orteetivo restrictions on .outdoor advertising is unthinkable, and the society is leaving no stone unturned in the matter." : ; PETROL-FILLINa STATIONS. . The making of bylaws for. the control of petrol-filling stations,from the point of view o£ amenity is-progres-sing very satisfactorily. In 1930. only four counties had bylaws in force; in 1931 the total was seventeen. In addition to tho counties, the councils of the following thirteen boroughs and municipal Iji.oroughs made bylaws for filling-stations, bringing the total to 22. The report continues:— "Bylaws forbidding the leaving of litter in places to which the public have nccess are becoming more genoral, new anti-litter leagues having "been formed in Warwickshire and "Worcestershire, acdin time we shall doubtless.become a tidy nation. English people are not characteristically disorderly, but they are in sonic ways lazy, and litter is a form, of laziness. The necessity which is.now upon us all for harder work and more thrifty economy may even eventually diminish the litter and refuse. dump nuisance; for (as we learnt in the war) there are few forms of rub-' bish which have not some commercial value if saved in sufficient quantity."'