The Bulletin – October 1963

THE BULLETIN ·

QUARTERLY JOURNAL ) OF THE WEST MI,DLANDS PETROLEUM ACTS ADMIN'ISTRATION GROUP

VOL. 2. uo. 2. OCTO BER. 1963.

Quarterly Journal of the

WEST MIDLANDS PETROLEUM ACTS ADMINISTRATION GROUP

VOL. 2. no. 2.

1963.

Exeoutive Co:nrnuttee i1eetings 16th. July and 6th. September, 1963 .,

TIeating held at WALSALL

2nd. Jt.l1y, 1963

Paper. IlTZE DEVELOP;OO·lT OF PET ROL FILLING A1ID SE?cVICE STATIONS lI by D. Eains"\"vorth, A.F.I .P., Assistant Controller of Faoilities, Total Oil Produots (GB) Ltd • ••••

Paper. r;Th'E PLiJlI1""IlifG OFFICER fu'\[) THE DEiJELOPLlE;l1T OF PEl'ROL FILLING A1ill SSRVICE mATIONS': by T .R. Richardson, A .:,I.I .C .E. J I·I.I ql·Iun.E., A.I:.P.T.I., Borough Engineor and Surveyor, Solihull •••••••••

Visits

Wayne T a:nl::: and Pump Co. Ltd. , Braoknell. Berks. 14th. June, 1963 • •••••

Shell Refinery, StanlarlT. 3rd. Septienbor, 1963 •• 72

ResJ.1onsibility £-orthe·· administro.ti<):n -of !tAe \ Petroleum Acts lies in the hands of the distriot .' totalling sonis t600 looal authorities in England, Scotland· and Wales of all tY'l.)es and sizes. Ranging from authorities whose offioers responsible for ?etroleulTl administration may have as many as a dozen other duties to perform, to authorities where spoob.list offioers are appointed and v.hel"Q, quite rightly, pride is held in the knmvled.ge of n job well done.

We, 1'tho have served in looc.1 govermn.ent for muny years, nppreciate this position and have gr<)\\fll to aooept; it. i:Tha.t a.ffeot looal government re-organisation, by -vmy of the rooOImOOndations of the Boundary COTIlPission and County Council Reviavm, vdll have on reduoing the number of administrative units remnins to be seen, as does the quality of the runolgw.nted or enlarged. area. Suffioient to say that ne have some synpathy'Vrith the J.nrge national Petroleum Com.panies whose ropresent8tives are hearo to oomplain that thoir task of distribution and develo:lment is made none the easier when lioonoe oonditions, and oonstruction :;rinoiples, vary so widely" not only in d1f'ferent parls of the country, but often even adjoining authoritios.

Whilst the provisions of the Petrolaum (Consolidation) Act of 1928 apply throughout the oountry, Parlironent in its wisdom., gives 100a1 authorities the pOl:"er to drrov up thoir Olim lioenoe oonditions. Of latter years, the Home Offioe have published a 110del Code of prinoiples of oonstruotion and licensing oonditions for 0.11 manner of storage, and thoso have provod an invaluable guide.

It was an ID'"areness of the need for a groater degreo of u:n1i'ormity of administration that brousht the West Midlands Petroloom Acts Administration Group into being sane five yoars ago. We TTould like 1:;0 think we ha.ve nohievod muoh by 'iray of dissemination of information. leading, in 1:;urn, to greator ei'fioienoy in this short time. Our boundaries, hovlEwer, r,re rather ciroull1soribod and although ,TO have :many subsoribors 1:;0 our ,Journal in 0.11 parts of the British Isles, our influenoe in the main is 1imitod to our aooreditod membors the looa1 authorities situated 'within tho 1"[08t

liThat of tho future? Our progress has not gone un-notioed and. tho formation of 0. National Organisation oonoorned with petroleum administration is being aotively oonaidered. We, in the West :Midlunds Group, aooept this as a natural tendenoy whioh, if brought to fruition, rony well be the means of advancing tho \)bj eots of our Group aver 0. muoh vvider area.

NEWS IN BRIEF

NE'tV

L:EI.ffiERS •

Ashton under Lyne Oswestry I;.B.C. Scarborough H.B.C. Stulybridge, Glossop and Hyde Joint Authori ty •

P.J. Paul ter, :M.I.W .E.A., Chief' Inspector of Weights and Measures.

Hr. J.J. Lewis, F.A.P.H.I., IT.R.S.H., Chief Public Health Inspeotor.

IvTr. Walker, 1,1.1 .W.II.A., Chief' Inspeotor of Weights and Met1sures •

:11". J.E. Robinson, Inspector of Y[eights and. ):Ieasurcs.

11r. N.R. Beesley Regional Operations 1'1anager, Petrofina (GB) Ltd." (Assooiate) • lvlr. R.R. Vardy A.R.!.B.A., Consultont Arohitect. (Assooiate) •

B .8 .1 • UE'iTS.

ReplyinG to 0. oorrespondent ill the issue of uB.S.I. N9'l."vsl1, the Editor points out the.t B.S.I. reGarcl the word /:inflammable" aB an ambiguous tern and a few yev.rs ago adopted the r,1Ore positive riflmiU:1.a.bleil. The opposite of the tel"El is non-fla:mJ:uble and f'larrnable is used YThere possible in 011 British Standards and othor B .S.I. publioutions.

(COlrsOLIDATION) ACT, 1928 • _-----.-.--_

As fron the 31st. Januaz-.f, 1964, Section 20 (1) of' tho abwe Act is repealed by the Vleights and J':ensures Act, 1963 to the f'ollornng extent :- the wora.s "not exceoding tvronty shillingsll, the iilOrdS !land to be verified" anc1 the words 11 ver if'ied end. 1l in tho lost tVTO plaoos >:hore those words ocour.

SAFErY RULES FOR GAS.

Regulations are being prepared under the FACTORIES ACT to ensure preoa.utions in the storago und use of propane end butane gases in industrial prclidses " und on building unc1 l"ouc1work sites. (The cnpite,ls are ours Ed.)

The next meeting ef tho Group yvi1l be h()lCl. at The Castle, SHRE\"!SBURY on :.'fednosc'tuy 16th. October, 1963. The -v\[orshipful tho I\Jayor of Shr6\>Jsbury, Counoillor T.C. Bowc'tler, J.P _I. 1'rill extend an 'rreloomO.to members at 10.30 o.n.

In the r,1Oming u talk on "The FluOYIk"lt 'Zono' imtor:lO.tio Paraffin Dispenserli "dll bo givon by Er. R. 301-ren, a. Director of 1'1ossrs. FIQCT,clnt.

This 'wil1 bo follmred in the afternoon by a paper IlSelfServioe Petrol Filling Stations ll by };r. R.G. Spalding, .J11eoh.E., Cbief Engine or, Wayne T unk und Pump Co. Ltd.

MISCELLANEA

EXTRACTS FROM ANNUAL REPORTS

UEWCAm'LE under LY1vIE M.B • Mr. D. Hall.

Lioenoes granted by the deparbmenb authorised the storage of )DO ,411 gall ons of petroloum spirit and mixturos, and 140 1ba. of oarbido of oaloium. In 1953 authorised storage was approximately 200,000 f,nllons. Lioenoe foes amountod to £81.5.0 •

One leaking storaGo tank was removed under the or the Petroleum Officor, as wero other tanks that roquirod rol!'.OV'a1 owing to road widening schomos 'within tho Borough. A roquest was recoivod from a potroleum oompcmy that on oerbnin soleoted sitos, dolivery uf'ter dusk, whioh is prohibited undor oxisting 1iconco oonditions, should bo allowod. Prosont day lighting facilities have so improvod, says :Mr. Hall" that it is rooommonded the requost be grantod and. that whon 1ioenoes aro re-druf'ted, suoh gonoml prohibition be roscinded.

NUNEATOU M.B.

NIl'. S.T. J ones.

103 lioenoes the keeping of 291,LJ45 gallons of petroleum spirit and :mixtures and 3 licenoes for oarbide of oaloium to keep 336 lb. were issued. Fees amounted to £87.10.0. A total of JlI> inspeotions W3re made inolud1ng26 inspootions to make tosts on existing tanks. There are 37 filling stations in tho Borough iro1uding tho first AGIP station in the Midlands and ono storage dopa!:;.

SMErr'HWICK C.B.

Mr. T.J. MO'bonlfe.

Tho Departmont issued lLJ4 licences authorising the kooping of 189,285 gallons of potrolOULl spirit and mixtures and ono 1ioence to koep 112 lb. or oarbido of oaloium. Lioenco foos amount od to £100.12 .11.

210 inspootions wore made to 1ioensed stores and a further 154 visits :mndo to oheck progress of oonstruction or modifioation of stores. Thirteon under{;round pabrol tanks wero pressuro tested with nitrogen and a further 7 tanks subjected to ullage tosting. All tosts proved satisfaotory.

ilIr. Motoali'o oomments on the absence of legal powors in relation to the storage of diesel and other :ruel oils, save when they are so kept as to oomprise a hazard to the storage or pot rol eum s piri t, rub report s that on 21 00 cas ions requests for advioe oonoerning safe methods or storing suoh oil were mado to the dopnrbment. :Mr. also rofers to the suooessful. rosidontial school held at Attinr,ham Park, Shrovvsbury a...'I1d organisod by tho Group.

srOEE OH TREl1T C .B • j'lr. Yi. Suith.

In ourryil'lG out duties under the Potroleun Act, Inspoctors Dnde a total of 1875 visits of inspection. 38 pressuro tests (by inort or air) on(l 47 hydraulic tosts 1:rere oarried. out on potroleun tanks. Of theso, 14 revealed ninor defects whioh, r£tcr attention and re-test, TfOre subsequently ro-c

6l.J4. lioonoes authorisiru:, the keopin'"; of 1,912,134 of petroleun spirit andnixtures (\11(1 6 lioenoes covorinG the stOl'U0;O of 10 tons of carbido of oalciun nere issuod.• Fees anwuntoQ to £584.0.0.

Hr. Snith nontions that rosearch and investif;ntion is curried out into the USG of ne',f substances nnrkotod hy n1X.10rOUS storGs throut,hout the City. Thoso usually take the fom of pressurised oontainers for tho Gasy of polishos, dyes, laoquers" PLlstios otc. and nany are potroloUl:l baso derivatos Irhich should be stororl un(lor liconce •

srO]:rE U.D.C. :tIr. A, Ainley.

Thore aro 28 petroloun installGtions in the Urban District havinG a storage ccpHoity of 57 ,050 Foos onou-ntorl to £24.7.6. On tho filling of vehioles over the footpath, :;>Ir. Idnloy ro?orts that oxtensions ono. alterations to gnraces are onoouraced vrhorever possible to elirll.nc.te this practioe.

WAL SJ'J.,L C .B • ill'. H. Griffi ths •

273 licences the keopinc of 401,246 gallons of potroloun spirit and r.lixturos, una threo licenoes to keep 212 lbs. of oarbicl0 of oalciun lrere issuocl. Fees anountod to £175.12.6. 107 inspootions Ylore made to lioensed stores.

I'll'. Griffiths records his re-election as ViceOhail"l"1o.n of tho Group.

WEST HARTLEPOOL CaB. :ar. A.F. Brunner.

UHEXPLODED BO:::BS IlJ WEsr liARTLEPOOL. In justification of his alar-nist headline, IT. Brunner corlLlOnts on the situation whioh obtLinod until about months uGo, 1.";hen for the first tiTle, the Looal b.uthority receivoc1. statutory po\!'rers onub1inE; its Offioors to deal effectivoly -vrith patrol tanks vrhioh had gone out of use nnd becoDe dereliot. Of s or:10 73 undor:ground tanks ImovJ"n to be disusod." 52 havo been either ronovod er offectively dealt ,,-rith. Inl'lo<liato a.ttention l1ms civan to the remaining 21 tarL"l(s ::uil. it is ploasiru::; to raport that ovmers or ocoupiers of the proporties have boen nost oo-operativo and in no instanoe has it beon necessary to resorb to oonpulsory povrers to achiovetho neoessary measure of safmy_

The Northern Gc-s Board ostablisheo. a lav\" prossuro GasificC\tion plnnt involvinG the storu:,;o, as food stotJk for tho prooess of up to sevon-ancl-a-half nillion /";allol1l3 of li:.:ht potroleun distillate, a law-flush substarlce \\'hioh is subjoot to the prO'lisions of the PotroleU!:"l Aots.

576 visits of insj?oction woro TlO.rlo and 106 liuoncos grantod for the keeping of 7,719,610 cnllons of patrol nnd 5,228 eal10ns of potrolcun cl.:x:turos. Ono carbido of cnloiuIl1 lioonoo, oovori::.1.[; the storaco of 44B lbs. Was issuO<..l. Foos QJ:J.ountod to •

Extensive road testing of large nUTlibers of the latest vehioles has shown that the fuel Ernti-knook requirement for apparently identioal oars moy by as much as 24 ootnna nur1bers. 41though for a long time it has been suspeoted that the requirements of individual engines valjr appreciably, the extent of this variation, details of whioh have been gloanod on G-ur visits abroad, 'will oome Us a shook to The i:..nplioations are serious.

So far as the nw,nufaoturers of oars arc oonoerned, the validity or prototype angine and vohio1e performance test results is at stake. Cur oimers 'Vlho ronlize that drunuge oun be done to an engine under Imooking oonditions, may in lIumy instuncas ba irrita.ted by having to restriot their aocalorotion to avoid the onsot of detonation unless they arc prepared to buy the nost expensive grado fuels -,,!l:'-le those who uro loss knovrlcdgcable on technioal !l1D,tters, or. ,vho do .n.ot hear the pinking, arc liablo to experienoe premature engine fnilura und be faced with heavy repair oosts. In eithor oa.se, nnnufaoturers can ha.rdly viav: with oquanimity the risk of loss of goodvril1. The oil oom.pcnies, too, uro in un unenviable position : when it oomes to the ohoioe of blonds of fuels for mnrketing for URG in ourrent1y produced cars, eithor they ha.ve to accept the fact T..:,o:b a proportion of their oustomers will be dissatisfied, or they 1111; fuc e the extra oost of :making provision f'or the v{orst oases :md CJljust their prioes aocordingly.

Ldr.uttedly the soatter of 24 ootnno n'UJ.-nbors previously montioned the 170rst so far enoounterGd, but lest it be thought that it io cm isolated onse, here arc morc details. With another lJ!l1:3 of vehiole, a soatter of 20 octane nuabers 'Vras obtained, and values ')f 17 and 18 nro Oor::,flon Q.."llong oars of British and other European All theso rosul ts wore obtainecl 'Vii th small and medium sizo, quantity produced, fc.mily saloon onrs in nol"!ilU1 use" 'Vnth their ignition settings ns found. In e::\oh oase the modols .fOro also to.:'l"c,ed vri'Lh the ignition resot oo.rofully aooording to tho m.o.nui'Mtur'u '3 roooTItilondntion : in those oircumstanoes, the model that 'IilaS pr':;';T")·'.'.sly quoted ns having Cl scatter of 24 hnd ono of 10 octane numb,l.' ), while the other nodel mentioned had a soatter of' 12.5. With tho ignition setting correctod, scatters in 6---.coess of 10 octano numbers are still oommon.

From the results, tl.'J'O poims emerge. One, of oourse, is that ignition sotting is 0. signifiolmt fnctur fron this, it oan be conoluded thnt the aoouraoy of uporntion of autQm4tio advc.noo and retard l!l.Gchanisms is ori tioal. . T he second is that in several instano es Y;here four and six cylinder engines ere ma.nui'aoturod on the same production line, tho four oylinder units shoviT the slT'-uller soatter. It would nppea.r,therofore, tho.t :mixture distribution is anothor important faotor, so espooinl attention should bo paid to the loyout, inoluding pur\:; of induotion nanifolds. Among the other o.spoots that might bo c0":."l1.a.orod are the effeots of piston design, sparking plug fonn, toleranoes in so fur as they af'feot oonpression ratio, and design and surfaoo roughnoss of oombustion

Obvivus1y there is a strong onse for an intensifioation of off.orts to determine what are the f'uctors of greatest signifioanoo, so that :manufaoturers onn tnl:e the most effeotivo oorreotive moasuros. Sinco, hovravcr, the oil oo:rnpunios will also benefit" it Qun be assuncd that they 'V!ould be prepared to oontribute to the 1';ork on an international soalc. Indoed, vnth their oxtensive rosoaroh rosourcos" they have already aohievod 0. great deal that has been o£ ilTlillOnSO vnlue to vehiolo and manufnoturors.

With aolmoVllodgnonts to "Automobilo Engineer!l.

TERMINALS FOR LARG E TAN KERS

The Situation in EurOlx} and. its Main Crude Sources"

The time when the bulk of crude oil will be handled in ships of' 50000 d.w. tons and over. is still a long way off. At the moment, the problem of tenninals for suoh large vessels arises less at the loading than at the disoharge encl. In the formal' offshore sea lines and buoy moorings oan be readily adapted wherever thore is sufficie:rrb depth of water. At the disoharge end, on tho ather hand l rasiting of terminals is often the only practioal alternative to the enlargament of faoilities in already oongostod an(l overorO'Nded where tankers oampErlie with dry oo.rgo vessels.

To the restriotions imposed by depth of water in both loading ana. disoharging ports must bo added those imposed by the dimeIIbicins of' the Suez CaMl. It seems impossible, in the foreseeable future, to regard the Canal as a practioal route from the Porsian GUlf to Europo and the U.S eA. for fully loaded tankers of roore than 50000 d .\if. tons and this faot has ;.?robably Ctelayed the adaption of same tenninals. This su:naiso is suppcrbod by the faot that on cortain other routes the devolo0ffient of faoilitios has gone much furbher, even though the quantityof' oil involved boars no oomparison vrith the volume passing through the Suez Canal. A striking example is the use of 85000 tankers b<Jb.1Oon Indonesia and the Philippinos, w·hore refinery oapaoity is still rolatively small.

A reoent report:; by TT .G. 1'Ieston Ltcl. gives a valuable aooount of the main loading an1 disoharging tenninals of' the world.. In this review, we have oonfined ourselves to Western Europe and those procluoing areas whioh prilnarily serITe it. Not unnaturally, the Persian Gulf whioh is estimated to have ?rovidad 57 per oent of tho total tanker in 1961 oames first. Due to rapid expansion over the past fm, years# the area noo has no less than six loacling terminals with depths or water to berbh the largest tankers in serlTioe. They are Mina al Ahmadi in Kuwait, Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia, Kharg Island offshore from Iran and Khor al Armye. from Iraq, and, most rooe:rrbly, the terminals as Das Islan(l and the nmv ?ier at Ras al Khaf'ji, oonstruoted by the Arabian Oil Co. to handle its Neutral Zone offshore produotion. In the same oontext must also be oonsiderecl the eastern IvIaditerranean terminals of Banias and Tr1poli# whioh have up to &J :Ni. of water at the offshore submarine berbhs, whioh serve the IJi})elines from the northern I rag oilfields. The third terminal of Sidon in the Lebanon, serving the Trans Arabian pipeline, oonsis"bs of five berths in ewer 50 :Ni. of water, about one mile offshore.

The other main oentre of orude for EurOi)/), ruunely Venetuela, is in striking oontrast ,rlth the Persian Gulf. The te.rminals handling the largest volumes are all in the west of the oountry, around Lake IvIaraonibo, and their use is acoorUngly limite(l by the cleIJth of the lake ohaltrlel, at present dra<1gacl to only 39 ft. ancl permitting the passage of vessels of no more than 4':>000 d.w. tons. In many oases, however, smaller tankers are employed to take the orude to transhi1Jlllerrt teml1£\ls at A:rw.ay Bay and PuIIba Cardon, both CJf whioh are in Las Pieclras Bay, where one pie,r has a draught of 46 ft. of' water. The situation in eastern Venezuela is slightly better, ·with the terminals at and near Puerto la Cruz generally having over 40 :Ni., ancl one pier as muo h as f:IJ ft •

Lastly, it is neoessary to oonsider the position of Norbh Afrioa as a grOl:ring source of orude. The two main terminals are Bougie in Algeria, "il'hioh oan handle tankers up to 65000 d.w. tons in about lpJ ft. of wuter, and La Skhirro in Tunisia, whioh oan borth 75000 d.w. tankors. In Libya, Essots terminal at Broga, now that the bovil'-moonng dovioe has oome into operation, should be able to handle tankers of at least 85000 tons I whilo a similar capccity is available at the Oasis torminal of Ea Sidor.

As rogaros rooopbion faoilitios in Europo, Rottororun has for long boon ono of tho major oil ports, and tho nON Europcon tonninul 'Vdll bo ablo to borth 5X)000 on a 47 ft. draught by 19)5 und ovOIIbually tu...'tJ.kers of 100000 d.Vil'. tons and ovor; tho Botlok can already nooommodato tankors with a drought of 39 ft. Although only Lpooo tonnors onn Antworp at prosent bocause of tho ft. depbh in the Soholdo Chromel, a 10 yeur plan has already boen put into operation to enable 70000 ton vossols to disoharge. So far us West Gormany is oonoornod, the Wilhollnahavon tenninal oan aooatrmlodato 100000 ton tankers at the outer borbh, whilo at Hamburg furthor berbhs aro undor considoration to pennit tho unloading of 6S000 tonners as soon as tho dooponing of the lovil'or Elbe has boon oomplotod.

Considernble improvemonts havo takon plaoe in the U.K. in roo ont years, und at both I{lilford Havon uncI Finnart tho lal"'6ost vossols afloat can borbh in safoty, whilo dre(lging progro.mmos at Fav,loy and tho Islo of Grain 'will pormit tho uso of 77000 and SOOOO tonners rcspootively. . Tho Sho11 tominal nt Traml1oro is oapable of handling tvro 6sooo ton tunkors sinultaneously.

Aoross the Channel, Le Harve hns berths for tankors up to 80000 tons, but the rofineries near Bordeaux are only Moessiblo tu vessels under 35000 d.w. tons. Of incroasing imporlanoo is the nOVi port err Lavern, on tho &bang de Dorro noar Mnraoilles, whioh at proso:rtb oannot itself nooommodato tankors drawing moro than 39 ft., although with the aid of n novil' buoy mooring, El. 53000 ton vossel drrorJ'ing LP ft. was brought in last month. For tho futuro; it is planned to tho entrnno e to 48 ft.

So far us the rost of' Europe is o'oncornod, mruly of tho refinory terndnals in Italy havo undor 35 ft. of wator at present, but at Gonoa whioh last yoar handled ovor 13 million tons of oil, work has already bogun on the nEJl,V' :Multodo Bay faoilitios, the provisional berths at Panto Libio., and whioh will bo ablo to berth 70000 ton truikers. The Bo.natioa terminnl in Porlugo.l has faoilities for lpooo d.w. ton vessols, while that of Tonorifo is aooessiblo to tankors d ruwing more than SO ft. of' wator.

Finally, although in terms of tunkor omployment Soo.ndinnvia is of comparativoly little importanoo, disoharging facilitios thoro aro good. Tho now' rofinery at Kalundborg hlls two borths for 45000 tonners, whilo that at Slangon, in N'OrvlIlY, oan berth 100000 ton tankers in 54 ft. of water.

With acknowledgment to "Petroleum Times" •

GIL GROUP GET;] GO-AB5AD FOR i8M PIFELINE PLAN

United Kingdom Oil Pipelines a consortium. of five major oil oompanies has been given per.r.o.ission to go fo.);"Vmro vnth its £8 M. soheme for building an oil l,roduots pipeline bemveen the Thames and the 111ersey.

If the next stngG'is suooessfully oomplated involving advertising the sohema in detail and hearing any to it final authorisation oou1d be given boforo the middle of noxt year and oonstruotion work begin 'within a furbher six months •

Armounoing his deoision in the House of Commons recerrbly, the Minister of' Power said the project was likely to oost same £2 llil. to £3 M. less ,ona oomparable basis, than the sche:m.o put forllvard by Trunk Pipelines. Operating oosts would also be 10\ver.

A formal applioation to build the pipeline, under the 1962 Pipe1inos Aot, was looged by the oonsortium in January. The 317 mile underground line would link refineries on the Thames and NJOrsoy to important markets in the Uidlands l where it was expeoted to halve the present distribution oasts.

The alternative soheme proposed by TrUnk Pi}?elines had the advantage of using existing railway and oanal wayleaves, under a profit sharing agreement with the British Railways and Waterv.rays Boards.

This, 16c1 to higher ostiIr.atod oosts babh 'OOoause the lino was longer than the direot oross -0 ountry roubo backed by tho oonsortium and beoauso oonstruotion work on oanal banks and railway tunnels vroulcl inavitably be more diffioult.

Apart from the question of diroot oast, the liiniater poimed out that the oOI:l}?anios partioipating in the oonsortium Esso, Mobil, Petrofina, Regenb and Shell-Max and B.P .... sUP1?lied about nine-tenths of tho light oil produots oonsumed in the areas 0 onoernec'. •

That assured SUPI'ort for the soheme from all the maj or users, and he added. that "most of the othor potential users have told wJ Deparb!n.enb that they }?refer this soheme to that of Trunk Pipelines If •

Ilr oonsiderll , he oono1uded. lithat this proposal offers tho prospect of greater 00 onornies in the ooat of transporliing Oil, and. r have deoided that it should go forwaro to thenax:t stage of the prooed.ure laid clam by the Act for publio advertisement ancl if neoessary, for enquirios into objeotions ll •

Following its original doo1aration that it woulc1 weloame other oil oompanies, either as partioillients or as users, on a. oontraot basis, the oonsorbium. oonfirmod that five oompanies had alrea.dy expressed a.n interest Total, Gulf, AgiJ:l; Amooo and Continenttl.l.

From liThe Finano ia1 Times 11 •

A synopsis of the }aper presented 'by Mr. H. Gr:i.ffiths, E., Chief Fire Offioer, 1;'Talsall, to students at the Residmltial School held at Atting;hmn Park, ShrEnV'sbury last year.

}!lost Petroleum Officers are not Fire Brigade Officers ancl oannab thorefore, lIvithout instruotion, be expeoted to knOV{ whether the correot t-<Jpe of fire fighting equi;"lffient has been installed at a petrol filling station. so mnny various types ani.!. makes of extinguisher, it is extronly diffioult for the layman to bo able to distinguish the difference between n foa."!l. extinguisher for oxa.'I'llple and a gas propelled vrater type.

In many oases, Petroleum Offioers :m.a:or be asked, am will probably ll<3 expeoted, to advise lioensees upon the oorrcct typc of extinguishor to instal, and. to be familiar ·with the IOOthods of operating, maintaining und testing oxtinguishcrs.

It vnll be thcreforo, that it is to the advantage of petrolcum Offioers gnd lioensees forthnt matter, that they have SOMe knowledGe of the basio requirements of fire proteotion and the provision of suitable fire equilmBnt at petrol filling stations.

Requiretlents of the Ivlodel Code.

The llodel Code in its suggested Conditions of Lioence states that IiSuoh fire extinguishing npparatus at the Licensing Authority may from time to time require shall be provided. In addition, an ample supply of sand. together vrith an imJ?lemcnt for its convenient npplioation shall also be provided; in the oase of a store, in the irnrlCdiate vicinity thereof, and in the ouse of petrol filling stations, near the tanks, }"lt1lnps, eto. lI •

The provision of sand naeds no further ax:planution, I woulct sUGgest, hoviTevcr, that it is more useful wh:m kept dry, for moppi11g up small spillage, than if it is allO\iJ'cd to beoOIJ.e damp. A suitable implement for its applioation is a long handled sooop, similar to the pattern used. for removing i110 ondiary bombs duril1G the last ir-rar. B(}nr in mind, , however, that speed is essential if a smnll fire is to be prevented from boo oming out of hund" as they so quiokly do.

The ?:od.ol Code goes on to reoOI!l.1J1.end" in the oase of a store" lint least one foam ex\:;il1r;';Uisher for any quantity up to 100 gallons; for lnrger quantities it my be neoessary to provide mora extinguishars" or one or more foa:m engines of 10 or 30 gallons oapaoity mny bo required.

In the oase of filling stations, tho fol1O\ving recommended scale is laid dm'm for guidanoe :-

Fow. ExtinS"Uishers of approved type and tvro gallons oapacity should be provided on the basis of -mvo extinguishers for up to four pumps oonnected to undersround to.n1cs; three for five to eight pumps und one more for overy three pumps in addition.

The foom extinguishl)rs shall be situated lNithin a reasonable distanoe (not more than fifty feet) from the tanks, pumps or other :place in whioh petroleum spirit is kept or hundled. The fire equipmont shall be 0.001)8siblo and unobstructed and shall be maintainl)d in good condition.

The latter requirement is often averlookod and if it is 0. oondition of lioence, it is the duty of the Petroleum Officer to see it is observed.

The 2 gallon Foam

Forun, which is u frothy product similar in aprearance to is normally produoed in the extinguisher by the reaction of tvvo ohemiot\l solutions whioh are stored in ooncentric oompurbments vdthin the body of the extinguisher.

The method of Ol)eration is ilWuriab1y by turnine the extinguisher upside dovi"ll# but it mny first be neoessary to oarry out an operation whioh yrill release a seal from the top of the inner oontainer, thus allornnr3 free mixture of the two reactine; ohemicals 'when the extinGuisher is inverbec1.

The foam produced. aots asa blanket wer the surfaoe of the burning liquid.

Gas Pressure Type.

These are similc.r in size und external appearance to ohemioal foam extinguishers, but produce meohanioal foam often termed air-foam.

The outer oontainer holds 2 gallons of ,vuter and a pressure oharge of a suitably positioned holder together with 0. oharge of mechanioal foam oompound.

The extinguisher is usually operated. by removing a safeby oap und striking a pieroer-lmob ',hioh peri'orates Il pres sure oharge of C02. The meohanioal foam oompound is forced into the lrmter and the resultinf, solution is aerated as it leaves the nozzle •

Testing.

Chemioal Foam.

1. Cheok levels and stir oontents of inner and outer oontainers. 2. Check, olean and lightly grease mwing parts. 3. Cheok nozZle. . 4. Check verrb holes. 5. Test by disoharge 50% annually.

l'Ieohanionl Foam.

1. Check level of: wator. 2. Chook, olean and lightly grease mwing parts. 3 e. Examine nozzle and air intake 4 Cheok vent holes. 5. Examine foom solution oontainer. 6. Cheok by weighing c;")2 oontci:J.vr annually. 7. Test by disoharge 20/; anIJUally.

In addition, both >bypes of extinguisher should be hydraulically tested to 300 lbs. per sq. in. ut least once in wery four years.

Dry_

It is an acce:pted fact that Dl"IJ Powder Extinguishers are being mfmui'nctured and used for the protection of hazards involving inflrumnabla liquids and there is no doubt that they are parlicularly effective in the initial stages of a S!oall petrol fire.

The dry pov,der, or dry ohemioal ne it is often ter:iod 6 is finely ground sodium bioarbonate whioh has been treated, usually with nl'llll'..inium or magnesium stearate, to render it water repellant and free flowing.

There is a pressure oho.rge 6 which is usually C02 or Nitrogen inside the extinguisher; in some extinguishers the oharge is in a separate oontainer, whereas in others the powder is held under pressure in the srone oontoi..'t1.er.

The axbinguisher is usually operated by striking a knob or pulling a trigger whioh oauses the pressure to be released, foroing the poviTder through a oontrolled. nozzle.

The range is usually about 15 feet and. the 20 to 25 Ibs. size usually discharges for about 20 to 30 seconds.

A 20 Ibs. Dry POItvder Extinguisher is equivalent to a 2 gallon Foam.

lfu.intiainanoe.

These extinguishers require VOljr little maintainanoe and the :manufaoturer's instruotions in this respect should be olosely follovred.

General.

lVhen dealing with portable fire Extinguishers it should be remembe rod that :

1. They are essentially first aid fire fighting appliunoes •

2. Their usefulness is dependant upon the presence of persons who knOW" how to use thern.

The latter point is very o.fton werlooked, and. muoh oan be done to eduoate the lioonseE) in this respoot. If ha is nllar;ed to di.sohnrge the extinguishers he is responsih1e for, at the laid dOllVll. disohargE,} periods, he 'w"111 gain oonfidence in their use.

To avoid oonfusion with the varioty of makes 6 shapes6 and methods oi' operation, it is reoommend.ec1 that extinguishers installed at any one installation should be similar in shape a:nd.appearanoe and ha.ve the same method of operation.

Pinally, although it is a good. thing for 0., small fire to be taoklod instantly, it is also 0. sound. mrudm to oause the Fire Brigade to bo informed ilnrladiataly in all oases.

of a meetins of

IPetroleum Offioers held in the Livery Hall, Guildhall" London l __26_the July" 1963.

The Chairman, Mr. G.D.H. Dioks (London County Council) weloomed the 27 PetroleUi'11 Officers present and the than.1{s of the meeting to J.E. Loten (City of London) for the arrnnr;ements and faoilities prOV"idect. 10 apOlogies were received.

The Chaim..an then gave a resume of the proceedings a:b the Meeting held on 17th. Deoem.ber" 1962, wen a Steering Committee Y{as appointed to oxplore tho possibilitios of forming an Institute of Patroleum Administration. Ho oallod on Mr. W.c .R. Dalo (London County Council) to roporb on the Steering Committee Meetine.

Dale said that 6 members met on 21st. June.. 19)3, 'Vvith himself in the Chair. It ,"{us resolvod by a majority of four acainst tvro that the Institute be in the form of a Looal Aubhorities Association.

During the lancthy d.isoussion whioh follO\'ved" IvIr. Laten sa id ho was natr of the opinion that an Ass ooiation run on si:r:ular linos to those of the West Midlm ds Group was the better idea. His opinion ,"(as that as the West Hidla!lds had operated so suooessfully for a of years and its field of operation as far as Ireland and Scotland, the better plan would b0 to expand froD the West lU.dlands outl>vards in all directions. l'Ir. L.A. Cava (Dudloy) informed tho maotins that this was procisoly what the West :Eicllun-:1..s 1idshod to do.

At this sta[;o 1.:::r. GeN. Dean (Solihull) inforr.l(30. ctologates that the Association of };,unioipal Corporations had infomed his TOIIVll Clork that thoY'yero not in favour of the establishl'lent of a nmi', Institute or Association conoorned with Petrolou..'Yl Ad.mnistr\:ltion, us they are of the opinion thnt cxistinr.; orGanisations are acloquate for the purposo of giving advice and guidance on suoh mattors. The I.'iootins diel not aocept this promise ancl I'Ir. Doun vms asked. to oonvey to his Town Clork the feelincs of the and that tho Tovm Clerk be nsked to roply to the Association of Municipal Corporations accordine;ly •

A proposition by Mr. Dale, on the a.ut;horlty of tho Steering Cormnittoo thnt "An Instituto be formed as a Looal Authority Associationll was soconded by Mr. RoL. Bloor. It was poi:rrbed. out that a group of Offioers could not form an Association of Looal Authoritios. An an.endnent to tho proposition that an Instituto bo fomed oomposed. of Offioers only, with Local Authoritios as Associato }.lombors was thon put to tho vote, resulting in 12 for tho olllondmo:n.t und 9 against.

A proposition that ttho Stooring Co:rmnittoo be nCliV formed into a Hano.C;or.J.ol!b Conuttoo vrith parror to appoinb a Secrotary' was aErood.

Er. W.C .R. Dale (L.C.c.) proposed and C.R. Poskott (Godalming) seconded that Hr. L.A. CUVG (Dudloy : Honorary Secretary, Yrost Midlands Petroleum Aots Administration Group) bo appointed Secretary of the Iv'fanaf',or.1o:rrb Cor:unittoo. As lfr. Cave, said ho was unablo to undortako tho Seoretaryship of both bodies I it was dooidotl to loave this appoilltr.lGnt to the Managern.o:rrb Cm1l!Jittoo •

PEr ROLEU11 OFFl CERS •

Vie unclcrstnnd that n naY, orsanisation is shorbly to oome into oxistnnoe. Its object vdll, ,ro arc inform.ed, be the advanoemont of scientifio and. J..ioclmionl Imohrledce required in connootion with the clutios of a petroleum. offioor, the supply of information not yet r>ec.dUy· o.vtdlablo to these offioers am to try and achieve some uniformity in the administration of the Petroleum. Aots.

There has been in existanoe since 1958 a f,roup in the West Midlands whioh has been doing pioneer work in the field, holding oonferenoes, instructional oourses and publishil'l['; a quarberly bulletin. It was formed by petroleum offio ers in the West IvIidlanc1s aroa, but was exben.'led to inolude electocl members of 1000.1 authorities who ntJv{ attend group meetings. The e;roup became so effective that applioations for membership orone frOln areas well outsid.e the West Hidlnnds, and there are nmv members froIn. many parls of the oountry.

The and suooess of this group has not unnaturally led to n demand for the formation of some national body with similar objeots. With this in viov!, a steering committee has been the nntter and we n(JIN understand that, at El. meetiIl?, rooonbly held in The Guildhall, London, a deoision was :made to set up an Institute of Petroleum L.uIrdnistration.

From the IILooal Govermnent Chroniole" 31st. Aur;ust, 1953.

PROPOSED nmU'f1lTE OF ADL:n,TJ:SfR11.TIOH.

The Assooiat.ion has been asked by Q I!l..embor corporation for its views upon a proposal of a group of offioers to establish a navv Institute of petroleum Ad.l!linistration and/or an association of petroleum officers. In our viow·, as existing organisations are adequate for the purpose of offerinG aQvioe nnd guidanoo on the administration of the Petroleum Acts. the formation of additional bodies is unnooessary; we thi:n1c that member oorporations should boar in mind that, if they or their offioers booome associated with eithor of these lliJW bodies, they will inevitably be direotly or il1direotly, in additional expenditure.

From Reporb Ho. 6/19S3 (27th. June) of the Gonoral Purposes Conunitteo of the Association of l'funicipal Corporutions. I1Munioipal Roviaw" Supplement September, 1963.

E 'vII-, G E PIT

Contributecl by Lfr. F.W. Cart;;rright, F.1.W .MeA. , Chief Inspector, Car;lbridge.

It '-"ms reported to the Cam.bridge Weights and lIeo.sures Department recently that there wss a strong sm.ell of petrol in 'bhe 1'fell of the pu!J.ping station in the City. This pumping station hanc1.les SOl:J.6 6 - 7,000,000 gallons of sarraGe dnily whioh is pumped by steam, gas engine and electric pumps to the ssr{age farn on the outsldrts of tho Oi ty •

On arrival, n Petroleun Officer of the Depnrt;:aent found there vrus suff'icient contamination of the wet vrall which is approximately 12 ft. x 20' ft. to give readings of up to 80% on nn Explosineter. The Fire Brignde were called and they oovered the surfac e with 'n blanket of foam which reduoed further evaporo.tion. The build.ing and vlell wore ventilc.ted by the opening of all doors and YJ'indcras and the roriIoval of floor plates over the well and by the use of' blovrer and oxtractor fans. The foam was left intaot for 24 hours during which period further readings on an Explosimetor wore taken nnd it .ins found thoy had dropped to 20% although most of the foam had dissolved into the savvage •

.b.ttempbs v{oro 'bhon l"Jade to dravr off the surfaco only by 0. mobile pun.p, but m'dng to tho largo suotion hoo.d it wns founc1. impracticable. It was thon <1ocic10d to low'or the level to the rninilIllB possible with the steon pUJ"'lpS and spray the surface with an orrulsifying agent am use pressuro hoses to ngiJcate and emulsify the contents of the woll.

Tho following morning, when the Fire Brigaele wero just placing thoir hoses in position prior to agi'bo.ti116 the surfuoe, the vapour in the well, o.t this ti!;1.e with a surface level of 20 foot bel Cl\[ ground I i gnited •

The fire in the well blo.zed fiercely for a short time and tv;o porsona, Cl fire officer m d the puIn.ping station ronager 1 had luoky Gsonpes. It 'would appear that the firo I13.:.'01y oonsurn.oo the free vapour above the surfuoe and due to lack or oxygen hOO not 'burnt tho petrol on top of the well.

Despite exhaustive enqUl.rJ.es by the Woibhts and lIcasures and. City Surveyor t s Departments and a ndl:"rspnper appeal" no traoe W':,:3 found in any sower of potrol or where any had entered n S(!Iover. Ji. i.;f\;.nple of -bi.vo gallons of sOImbo wns tolwn from the surface proir to the explosion and from the po'brol distilled f'r01'1 the sample" i'b v{ould appenr that there was a OIne TS call ons in the well •

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

:'[lTUTES

OF THE

Hold at Dudloy

Present Apolosies

OF THE CO:J.::ITTEE OF THE GROUP

H. Griffiths Esq. (Chairman) and IJessrs. Beoby, Boor, Bloor, Doan, Hall, Holdaway, Rodon and tho Honorary Secretary.

Mossrs. Gee and Sharp.

Foroc ourts • No. 3 • The Honorary Socretary reads. letter from J eA. Sharp--(Eloctrical Advisor) in 'which he sU3c;ested an amondment to olauso No. 3 relatinc to olectrical requirements on forecourts, havin:,:; resard to the points raisoo by ropresentatives of the Petroleum I ndustry at the J oint held in June. Aftor considerable discussion, it was deoided to re-phrase this clauso and return to Mr. Sharp, vrho had n::;rocd to make sufficient oopies availablo for mombers.

Licence OonditJons. In tho nbsonoe of l\Tr. Goe 1 IIossrs. Boer and Bloor reponed satisfactory on ,;hat is a ro.ther oomplex and lout-o;thy tusk.

Spruy Booths. The Committoe oonsiclorod a roport l'Ir. D. Hall Thero is still no unnni:mity of opinion and it ,!TUS felt that a roply from the Hor.lO Offico on the subject ,,-ras not sufficiently oonclusive. It Vias rosolved that a furlher appronch bo mndo to tho Home Offia o.

Steering Committoo. Mr. D. Hall reportocl tho outcome of 0. mooting hold in London ro[;ardin[j tho formation of 0. Nationnl Association concerned with Potroleum Acts Administration. It vms rosolvod by the Steering Conunittoe that any suoh body be in tho form of a local authorities asscoiation, and that this rooommondation be reportod to a mootins of interested potrolOUIll officers to bo hold on Friday 26th. July, 1963 at The Guildhall, London.

Correspondenoe.

A draft letter was road from ]:Ir. Sharp concernint:; a typo of oable 1ifhich the Homo Office had aGreod was suitablo for uso inside pump housinc, but -..-rhich did not oomply with any of the alternatives given in tho J:,!Iodel Code. Rosolved that a lettor bo sent to tho Home Office vdth a sample of the oable, askinG for thoir obseI"\Tations.

A query on off-set Fill Pipes vras considered and it 'laS ros 01ved to roply on similar linos to El. previous enquirer.

Applioation for

Tho lionorary Soorotary reported threo applications for membership. The Committee a[';rood they be aocepted.

OF THE lIl:;LJTES El3CUTIVE OF THE l1EETIlTG OF TIIE GROUP

Ho1cl at Ho1verhampton 6th. Septomber, 15763.

Prosont :

il.pologios :

H. Griffiths gsg. (Chuirmnn) and Mossrs Booby, Beor, B1oor# Doun, Gce, Eall, }Iolclavray, Rodon, Sharp and tho Honorcry Seorctar<J.

l,jr. E..A.. Lyno. -----_._---

of Potrgloum in ° Arisine; out of tho of this J.Iootin,::; in whioh lIT. Doan referred to oorrospondonco frOtl the Assooiotion of lunioipal Corporations to tho '1'o'\l:n of Solihull" lIre Dean informod the Exooutive CO!lll0ittoo that the Associo.tion of Hunioipal Corporo.tions had beon informo(l that certain points thoy made were net striotly oorreot •

Lioence Conclitions. Tho ad hoc Committee have oontinued their --deliborations. .. is slov; but thero is seneral aE;reotlOnt onLho disoussed. A report of the ad hoc COW1ittee on Spr"y Booths is awaited.

Tho Honorary Soorotary roacl correspondenco frcI.l t:r. S.T. J ones J B En::;ineo r for :Huneaton. Tho Chair.mun also informed the Eeetinf: of oorrospondenoe he hocl had with 11r. R.S. HOUSOlll11n of Sholl-Hox and B.P. Ltd. After lonr:thy oonsideration of -t.ho fnots boforo thom" it was deoided that the Chnirman inferm Hr. Jones that the Comnittoo are only in favour of off-sot fill pipes in oxoeptional oircumstanoes and provid,ed that strinc;o:n:b precautions 0.1'0 takenwhon filling •

A lettor from Mr. E •.A. Lyne, Survoyor of Hnrr:ick R.D.,(. , ;:{us read" in .-,hioh ho expressed his gront regret thot he vrus no lc:c!.r:;or able to elevoto muoh tirtw to the nffairs of the Executivo Cowc1i'ttee and ho therofore tondorccl his rosignntion from tho Committee. IvTr. Lyno addod that should the Group .-:ish at nny time to holcl. 0. mOGting at Leumington, his Authority 1ifOuld be plensod to woloamo them" ancl he would be delightocl to make tho nooossary arrangements •

It was resolvod that Mr. Lynot s resign..'1.tion be aooepted with regret and that the Honorary Socretory ,\7rito to Iv1r. Lyno thanking hll-l for his vo:t"y' eO'tlsidorable past SONic es •

Corresponclenoe bettvoen the Home Offioo and Hr. J. eA. Sharp was rend regarding eerbnin cable whioh the former had approved for use in petrol pump housing. Tho opinions of members were not \:.:,o.nimous and :'ir. Sharp agreod to oomnunicatci with the Home Offl.n 0 again on the subj •

A lettor from lIr.l...J. Ingouillo,'Guornsey, was read eXFl:'ossing grateful than.'I{s to tho E0r.lbors of the ad hoc Committee fo',!;11e oare and time whioh thoy hud givon to ammerlng queries s u -: trc od by him.

Applic:t::::'.(1 , . for lvTembership. J_,' ::\t:l.ons for mombership. aooepted.

Tho Sooroto.ry roporbod three Tho CO!1r.littee agreed they be

LEGAL OPJNION

PetroloUl:l Potro1eun (Co:n.solid.ation) Act, 1928 Floating narine sorvioe station.

A petr010'Ulll oompnny vfish to establish n floating nnrino servico station mountod on n pontoon to soll potroleun to boats on the rivor ruJ:Ll1il1l; throU[;h tho oity. The pontoon is to be tarred into position oaoh day durinG the soason and moorod on tho rivor or to the rivor baruc.. Tho rivor is onG to 1dlioh tho British Tra:n.sport Conu!lission byolavfs apply.

Although s.l (1) of the Potroleum (Consolidation) Act, 1928 prohibits the kooping of potroleun vnthout a 1ioonco, proceodings othor than by injunution, may bo only against the occupier of prenuses in the evant of 0. oontravention of the sootion.

1. Do you agree that s. 1 (1) of tho Aot is of genora1 applioation not lir.u.tocl by reason of the li.'I(1itod sanotions exercisablo under sub. (2) and that a lioenco is theroforo required.

2. (a) Can the pontoon bo rGgo.rcloo. as "promisos" if muved. into position daily havi!l€ regard to tho rating oasos? (b) If' not, >{ould. tho position be al to red if the pontoon ..rere moored for tho season?

PLOTOR.

1. Yes.

2. (a) No.

(b) Yes, but soo s. 18 of the of 1928.

Reforonce 127 J .P. 141.

Roproduood by oourtosy of tiThe Justio e of tho Pone e and Looal Gover:amcmt Raviavr'i.

GROUP MEETING

A meeting of the Group was held at the Town on Tuesday 1963. There were present 40 Local Authority Representatives, 5 Associate Members, 8 Technical 2 Visitors B.J. Slack, Honorary Member.

The Mr. H. Griffiths, introduced The Worshipful the Mayor of Walsall, Councillor R.Do Talbot, M.A., J.P., and invited him to open the proceedings.

Councillor Talbot expressed his pleasure that the Group should have chosen to visit Walsall for the second time and expressed the hope that even more visits by the Group would be made. After wishing the Group a successful session and saying he would meet members at tea time, the Mayor took his leave.

The business portion of the Meeting then followed.

The Honorary Secretary made brief references to several items in the latest issue of "The Bulletin", including an interesting article on a Self-Service Filling Station by Mr. R. Billings, Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures, Plymouth, and an appreciation of the Mid-Week School at Attingham Park, 1963, by Mr. A.F. Brunner, Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures, West Hartlepool.

Reference was also made to the fire fighting photographs appearin.g in "The Bulletin" and the co-operation of the Dudley Police Photographic Department in this connection. The Secretary said he had, with the approval of the Chairman, sent a letter of sincere appreciation to the Chief Constable of Dudley.

The Secretary reported that the dates 11th. to 13th. May, 1964 were available for the third Mid-Week School, to be again held at Attingham. The Meeting decided to accept these dates.

The Chairman then drew attention to the amount of work undertaken by the Executive Committee and referred to the formation of ad hoc committees to deal 'Nith such matters as Licence Conditions and other contentious items. He also informed the Members of the outcome of the joint meeting with the Executive Committee and representatives of the Petroleum Industry, to iron out differences regarding Nos. 3 and 4 of the Group's Forecourt Minimum Requirements. Agreement having been reached, it was hoped to circularise delegates in due course with a view to adoption by the Local Authority Members.

A letter was read by the Secretary from the Editor of "Municipal Engineering" suggesting that if at any time the Group cared to submit matters which would interest readers of the publication, he (the Editor) would be. pleased to publish them.

The businoss part of the session being concluded, the Chairman then introduced to the Meeting Mr. D. Assistant Controller of Facilities, Total Oil Products (G.B) Ltd. and Mr. R.R. Vardy, the Company Architectural Consultant. Mr. Hainsworth, in presenting his paper which dealt with the methods of a major Oil Company in the development and construction of filling and service stations, emphasized that he would talk on the way his own o0mpany operates, and not in general terms.

by D. Hainsworth, A.F.I.P _, Assistnrrc Controller of Facilities, Total Oil Products (G.B.) Limited.

I 0.111 grateful for this opportunity to present to you the manner in which my Company approaches the development of Petrol Filling und Service Stations o.nd in presentinG our procedures I om prepared for and welcome your comments for in this way ,'vc in Total understand you and your requirements and, important to us, you will understund Q little rr.ore of our methods. As 8. result, when we endeuvour to develop within yOU:;'1 0:: control we hope to be able tp present schemes in line vd th j-our though-Ls, which mny "lirell o.void any llUste of your time.

Before consideration of the physical construction of Filling/ Service Stations, I think th:: reClsons for theL- development should be considered. Success in marks'cing 8utomotivG products is uchieved through efficient and profitc,<ble distribution ::md selling. The greatest volume of such p:coC,uct::: is sold through the retail outlets of an oil comp8ny end C,l<;:lough there ((re Dany types of such outlets, the Filling/Se rvice Sh,tioll is -' f'.::1d remain, the most significant. Thus the aim of cm oil must be to d6volop ret8il outlets as economioally as possible in tho nurkoting requirements and as purt of an irrtegrutecL c:Gd plrmned network. The plam1ing of this netl;vork req11irs8 a 'Jc\ckg:::ound of informntion vrhich is provided by 00n'cim'.ou2 SU1""TElY 'and invostigQtion.

To this end, my Comp::u,y :tas cpecidised in the development of its 0'11'111 specific types of building b8sed on a mnrketing consideration that by essence is to sell gcllomlge L:t the rl'inimum capital cost. Since land costs arc excessive 3 by inferenco building costs must be at a minirmun consider:::,tiol1 must ')G given to the present or future trend in' ca r des ign which may eliminate the methods of continuous mileage servicing according to the present concept.

I have divided this t<:llk for the purpose of definition into three parts, thnt is, the development of virgin sites, the redevelopment of existing sites, and the types of equipment in use by my Company.

Considering the develol'l.lOnt of virgin sites, vre endeavour to acquire a site thnt alrendy the b::ncfit of Outline Planning Permission for:) petrol st':,tiOl'l. If no 'outline planning permission hns boen grnnted the Branch OperCltiol".s ASGi8-Gcm-c 17ith the co-o:?erotion of the Company Architectural c:: other Qrchitect so appointed producos the de'cc,::"l the necossary application.

In the designation J.ni(, devm by ny CODpr;ny we term the acquisition of such site GS Purch2.se Virgin. In similL1r manner a developed site is knovm as Purchase DG'Teloped. Y01.' ',ri 11 that there nre variations on this '!VG mny bo f\ssisting 2. dealer in his development by way of c finai".c:al loan. The lLltter mc.y result in assistance to the in 'CCr:T:S of opor8tionul or nrchitoctural advice uno. in certain C[',:"08 he ['\Ccept our orchitectural services for the 1'rork of rede'Telop:llent. .Ln all C,,1ses whore C omp:::my investment is concerned, liTe exc:'cise right to gvide such work on the line of the Company's iDsge.

It is my Comp£my's policy ,\crhere the dGyeloprr.ent of' virgin sites is concerned to standnrdise cOD.;:-'cruction ::md to this end we have designed buildings on a unit construction principlG to produce 0. standard Our approach to this form of construction has been functional siBplici ty without fGncy embellismnent and which is adaptable to remodelling where necessary to moet the requirement of our tiscerning motoring public. Principles of pro-fabrico.tion hove

been applied to achieve Imv building cost combined vvith speed of erection and resulting in maXiHUl'l econony gnd the designs are capable of re-arrangement in a vcriety of W€\ys to suit almost any condi.t ion without losing the original architectural expression. To date ne have t\vo basic types Immm as the Series 1 and Series 2 standard station but these types have many vf'.ric.tions, the former being basically subdivided into tY,-elve varic,tions and the l:?tter into six. However, such is the form of construction that in actual fact we can huild an infini to variety of stations conforming to the series but varying in the accommodation it can offer according to the requirements of ground, service and expenditure.

General pesign.

The des ign of our buildings is based on tho module of 48" and on a grid of 4 ft. x 4 ft. and in the oase of a Filling Stction oa.mprises:A sales unit made up of sales rooTIy/;vaiting room, offioe, staff room, toilet, ty:res, batteries and accessories store, oil store and. separate male and female toilets. In the case of Q Service Station, the foregoing applies vvith the addition of a lubrication bqy and a washing br;y, but I must call your attention to the fact that variutions can be applied, by the addition or deletion of any of the subunits vvhioh I have menti oned or by re-arrangements of the ];'osi tions of the T{hoie. It may be 1?ortinent at this point to define the difference betvi6en filling and service stations. These are:··

a) Filling Stations: That outlet wherein motor spirits, oils or limi ted TBA are retniled and wherein servic e is given for air and wc:ter only.

b) Service Stations: That outlet wherein motor spirits, oils and TBA are retailed 'wi th full faoilities for vehicle servioing and minor repairs, but excluding workshop facilities.

Superstruoture.

We have designed this to be pro-fabricated whilst the site walls are laid dOlim. They are made up of sep:'.rate panels' and o::'.n be transported on a low loc,der to any site and erected on 8. prepared bctse according to the type and variation of the stntion building and for the largest type of standard station they will take approximately 24 days to 0 root.

Foundations •

The foundation and substructure of the building is a reinforced concrete raft base with sinkings vrhere requirod £'0"..1 wash grid flooring and hoist.

Beneath the forecourt and under the trash area 600 gallon tanks may be installod as storage of kerosene and wasto oil.

Sales Dni t.

The internal height of this is 8 ft. 6 ins. the roof decking can be extended to cover the urea and telephone kiosk. Construction is by means of partitions and fra:6es the maximULl height of which is 8 ft. x 8 ft. 6 ins., high um which are fixed to the concrete buse by bolts fired through the baso plates which are fixed to the PCI rt it i ons • This system is designed to be inter-locking and self supporting and is finally fixed to the roof beams.

The roof is cons'tracted of timber joists and cOiTered vvith "Flaxboard i ', and insulation board of low density and high insulation value oovered vvith a layer of usbestos base bitumen felt stopped with a single layer of multi-ply bitmninous felt. The fall across the roof is approximately 2 ins. front to rear.

All facias [,re fanned in alurniniun sheet or specially treated panel board and the whole front is glazed.

Service Unit.

T his has n high level roof and an internal height of 13 ft. to alloviT vehicles to bo raised on the hoist.·

Construction is by use of Ul'}i t constructed steel panels, rolled steel channels, and s.tee1 lattice beams which are welded and is covered by sherodised fire resisting steel roof decking kno,m as. 1lQ,_Deckf1 and bolted to the frameY{ork. The decking is covered "l'.'"ith insulation bOHrd nnd n lnyer of multi-ply bituminous felt, Clerestory 1vindovrs and glnss louvred venti Intors cllovr unr?lo li:;htan.d vent ilat i on •

Rain water is c ollGcted by PVC gutters and drained by PVC pipes.

I llu:::linati on.

The building is internnlly illuminated by batten fitting fluorescent tubes and spots. It is extormlly illuminated by four perimeter lante ros of 400 Yratts pmvcr and two island lmlterns of 2 x 400 w"Utt power.

Four ·bo1J.nrd l::\l1.terns ere situnted two ut each entrance and exit.

</.)

This/,l.Jrovid·ed <by three different types of electric:::.l heater.

a) Thermal storage or linight store ii •

b) Tubulp,r hectors under the display windovrs to prevent condensation.

c) Infra-red rndiant henters for ovorhead honting in the 1ubay and oil store over the lubrication equi'py,16ht,' sa10s room nndstoff room.

Temperatures in the toilets [,ro rrl<.lintnined by sr.mll tubular heaters and. hot wctor is supplied by immersion hoaters • Po\ITer.

Triple plug paw'er points [Ire ill8ced ut convenient positions throughout the building.

You nay ask at this sto.g;e what is the difference between Series 1 cnd Series 2 st[mdurd develop!:lents. Tho bc.sic unswer in terms we all understand is expenditure, the Series 2 buildings being designed for greater oconony. Howevor in more pructical terms Series 1 provides for a Filling or Service St.::tion in width, that is a wide frontage but shulloV! depth site, wheroo.s Series 2 providos for n Filling or Service Stc,tion in depth, that is a norr017 frontago but with depth of site. T.he construction of the Series 2 is similnr to that of the Series 1 with· the exception toot the component items £Ire mnnufacturcd in o. different in ora_er to overcome extended use of structurnl stoel work by substitution of the use of timber. In addition therois illumination beneath the cc.nopy if installed.

I have indicated the Ellmner in which we deal with buildings first quite intentionally bec[',use I know in genernl terms your vievls and I rove left the meat as it .were until this point. Thus it remains. to consider the forecourt and subsidiary details on -rrhich we mny cross swords.

It is my policy to:-

a) To utilize unit construction techniques wherever possible •

b) Surround underground tanks with concrete and not to use brick pits.

c) To instal_ overground tanks for storage of kerosene.

d) To instal. offset fills wherever possible.

e) To utilize petroleum interceptors within the forecourt.

f) To tarroacadam forecourts using concrete only for aprons adjacent to the pump islands.

g) To prefabricate punp is lands.

h) To inst nl the number of pumps re 1ctive to sales/ grade/peak custo,;]. P31'iods •

i) To instal vent pipes of a minimum height of 16 ft., other arrangenents to bo coincidont vrith the Group's recommendations.

However, on all these poiLts it is also my Company policy to meet and understand the roquL-emO:i.TCS of the Local Authority and you may be interested to know tb3.t ,:rJ hc:'re a librory of the requirements of many Authori ties, which is continually increased. 'Ne are not dogmatic about this policy aud, &iY'.c2 ,'1;),ny of the aspects are contrary to your views I would like you to ':.-r.::erstcmd that an oil compnny must formulate its building policies \Tory differont lines to yourselves giving due consideration to rule;:; and regulatior.s in force. Also of course our interpretation of the Pe-c:co:oum Aots :raay vary from yours as similarly one Local Authorj, ty' s L1.terpretation varies 'with comparison to neighbouring Local Au'chori tier:;. Our policies are based on safety, building economy" salos al"d usage factors and also on the experience gained by the oil inc1.us'Cr7l in retail knovrledge us a whole.

I have now dealt in terms 't'rith our methods of construction ond our policy in rolation 'co tr;is) but obviously since ",re may expeot visits from the petroleum and safety personnel of the Local Authorities during the course of Qny development}and also the detail would be discussed in advance of this it is necessary that I present the manner in vrhioh we prograrilme to give a clear overall pioture of our methods.

At this stage I YJOuld lil{e to refer to the stage reached when Detailed Planning PerLussion has been granted for a proposed development. At this time detai lod dr"':',frings huve been produced by our Compo.ny Archi toctural Cons",l tant or c,rchitect and 8pproved by the Local Authority.

After this, of C01ArC(., Bills of Quantity will be produced, tonders offered to oontrnctors, and a contr8ct avmrded. We then prograrillile in and to this and Wo have carried out detailed ana1ysos of' development completion "cirr''Js, and produced a universal progrmm11B chart for all types of bD,sic st::mda:'d dovelopnent. The blank chart can u1so be applied to cO:::l.'Tcntional constructions. As a result of this armlysis, we are able to type of development detail and if I tell you that theoretically we cen plan :0'1 thirteen v{eek standard development to 'wi thin plus 01' m5.l1.us, one and a h£\lf days. and plus or minus £200, you vrill got sone idea of our a,;?pro[',ch to this problem. Suoh theoretical planning n111s'(;, of course, take account of lubour disputes, weather, etc., aIld i:c'. of these factors, mDximum building ti:raes ara cons idol'cd. May I also add that this planning systo:ra is based on the pll:rsical construction times and cost over a number of sites, [md tho orig;inals were produced in conjunction vrith the architects, contractors, and most important, site foreman.

I would like to underline the importancc of this preplanning system since it must emphasize to you our early consideration of the individual si to developm-:',1t, and enubles us to give details to the Loc!\l Authority when 8uch purticular item of construction will be ready for their inspectioIl ..

On the point of your inte'."est in c.ny pc.rticuluritem of development" and the fulfilment of your duties of supervision, .re Can give you eX8.ct dates when those itons of construction, and .!ork of interest to you nill be c[,:t'risd out.

As a result of our pre-plonning, my Conpcmy knorrs eXQctly, in advance each detnilof each proposed de-velopment and thus ::tVoid sudden and unexpected rovision during the course of developI'lent yrhich so often onuses consternation to the Local Authority. Let me however that it is designed to giY6 flexibility, thus if circlu'lstances produce the necessary nlternative, wo arc prepared for it,

At this stage of my talk I hnyc d('!olJc in some detail with 'what we term as "virgin site de-velop.r:1:mt ii ono I CB sure you vrill have ulreGdy in your 01N11. minds considered that this part of my COID;)8ny' s expansi on must be 'small rc18tive to our ncquisi tion of sites clrendy existing as filling/service stc,tions. ;Jl t!"..lG: but wc oro oblo to u:?proech the redevelopment of suoh Si'C'3S in sinilnr mnnner to thnt which I h::we already indic Q ted •

Comp::uiy terns such sicc acquisit:.ons 8S Yipurchnse but it mny ,,7ell bo that "FO r,sG:_st n deC'.ler in his redevelopment; by Y.fc.y of loan. Our policy is to dE:rTelop or redevelop within the contoxt of the Company image, io JCae considerc,tion of appearance., to give 011 Total sites n senso This is. a very .rec.l .problem where acquisi of s::" tas not requiring rod0Velopmont is ooncerned, ond is beinb anRlysed at this time. r.here rede\iGlopment is concerned 'ire erdeC\yOUl' to rAfnc El (Jxisting buildings according to our style of building.

Similnrly, our Policies ,d. th reGard to developmont alrendy re18ted to you ore implemented wherever l)ossible. This covors, of course, the instnlhltion of adequnte storage, installation of nevr pumps and lines, offset fills, pum]) is l::mds, nnd other items, and We are reqtlircd.therofore to go to the Local Authori tics in me.wer to original c1eveloIlHcnts for thei r vier{s •

It is possibly in redcveloTlTllont probler:ls that wo h:.we our rojor association with the respective de:,>artments of tho Locnl Authority, especially 1There Planning Ap})rovals and s8..fety requiremerrcs are concerned, .for it is in the redesign on pump and tc.nk lnyouts thnt problems occur. It is easy to ple,n ::,nd receive upprovnl LS we ...-rish on virgin soil, bt/:; nlte rL-;ti on, esporiallyto tnnks ::md lines require considerablo thought, c.r.d fire subjcc-c to greater COliTLUent from yourselves, especi811y, considering that sites enjoy existint; user-rights. Howover, is in this context that we are nble to give :md t8ke c little, for any redevelop:-i.ent may well 2.1 ter arrangomonts and layout to ,·rh:.ch you object, removing such horrors as swing arms, kerb-side pur:,ps, restricted and dangerous forecourts,. etc., to make way for sofer luyouts co-incident with your 01Vn Authorities' . points of view. I am sure the 'r.,lue of this form of mutual co.operation is apprecicted bynl1.

I must nOIT! come to the fL1.al itom of my talk und that is equiprileut •

Within an oil oompany i-'c is gCl1crnlly difficult to laydorn1.. fixed definitions of the 8quipment that .is used, since the selection of this must V8.T1J ac cord ing to local ma rketins conditions. Howeve11 we hnve laid dOV'Tn general st::mdards and these covertal1.ks, pumps, 2-stroke dispensers, keroser-e dispensers, lubrication oquipment, forecourt lighting, electrical genr, and items of ancillcxy equipr;lent which I do not believe would be of interest to you. I do not wish to refer to any pnrticular mn..llUf8cturer, £1S I ar,l sure you will be aware that I oould not in public show preference towards any specific mnke. Indeed, wc in Totol oonsider thnt British rnnnufacture is genernlly of good standard und the choice of manufacturer depends

much upon the service they C8-'J offer by way of delivery times qnd competi-tivecosts •

Our equipment ha-s been cc.refully solected as the most suitable uvailable,. due hnving been given to retail' and fitting costs, av::-<ilability considering our rupid expansion, use, onddesign. In oddi tion, T 6tcl has endem-oured to select equipx:wnt already Troll tried and proven.

1Vhere tankage is concerned, our consideration ofcapncitiosis based on tho estimc.ted annuol gallonage of the site concerned. In general principlos, we have standardiGed on the installation of three 3,000 gallon underground taru:s for gollonages up to 25°,000. Over this figure we instdl three 5,000 gallon tanks. iifuore denlor sites are c·oncorned .. "I've apply theso minimum requireI'lents to installation of additional tankr.ge over ::md 2.bovo the c::"i?2cities ,.}lrondy avftilable. However, it mny be thnt the e::is'::ing storage is split into a number of small sized tanks vvhich livould be to use and in this c"se vre would remove or fill in such snol: Normal safety would be taken for remOlrnl nnd 113 fill by the use of concrete.

Where tt:mk testing :'s ooncerned we of course rely upon the approval of your gerr'clenen b'clt h,ve the service OfPUlllP Maintennnce Ltd. when tanks ore installed.

Our standard :ange of tr,nks covers 5000, 3000, 2000. 1000 and 600 gallon ta.nks, the latter boL'1g need for ke ·osene and vVG,sto oil. Derv is nOTIully stored in 2000 gnlloll tmllm • 1'Vhere-ror possible, we utilise e,bove-ground tanks for ",:;he stoTa:se of kerosene.

Pumps.

Pumps are a liutter of and is in fact little to choose bet:vleen mflkes, as l'Gsards type and finish. It is their appearance, that is, finish, clarity of sign, and illumination that attracts the customer.

We endeavour to utilize reconditioned pumps where pos siblo for sale of Derv and ,Ye dispenso Kerosone from nny of the British Range of comr.lercial kerosene pumps,

2-Stroke Dispensing

A considerable increa::;e in the 2-stroke vehicle popula'cion has lead to a requirement througho1x!:; tile count-::.yof petrol/Oil dispf.?nsing equipment on our service stations. As you will know, we have in the P:'lst championed the use -:If the LjungmGn t s Selfom.eter, and here I must be forgiven for mentiol'1ing by nam.e. In our experience, hOTmver, wc hove found preference by the customer for' equiplTlent, that cun disllense more than one nixturo. Als 0, of course, not all Local Authori ties hove 80cepted ty)Je of coin operDted dispensing eouipnent. ne havG therefore c ollsidered this; ,md now install on the najority of OUT sites such dispensers the "1,;ix-0-1LQti9 il or equivnlont equipuent. It mir;ht be of iJ?terest to- you to know that we ere testL1g the lCoppen's much:_ne.

Lubrication

We have affirmed our policy to avoid the insta1l2tion of fixed lubrication equipment in Vr:L i::;h the present trend towards self lubrication and ere now inst;ulling c!lobile types of such fixed equipment o.s co.n rEJndily be removed 8S the for 0. lubrication service decreases This trend £1.lso o.pplies to equipment for the removal of waste oil end vre hnve now stand"rdized on mobile oil dmin equipment.

Electrical

Little need be so.id in respect of this, except perhaps we in Total have no violent objections to the Code of Practices

recorm:londod by your Group_ J. should ilk;.. -(,0 .1O.;;.vo1', Vie do instr'-l· on nIl sites which we have developed, our OV!:'l type of elQctricc\l c<Jntrol Tihich the opcro.tor of the st,•. tioI'J. c:on1?rol over the circuits of thc,t stution. This p81wl includes ell c:ircuit- broIlkcrs and nnster svritchcs suo. is nl'lrr;r;lly situnted insioo the -sr.les I:oon ',,:here it is casily accQssible fron the point of vie'1:: of safetynnd TD. thin eGsy etM-- ir-:::ledLto rs:.:\ch of ali persons The Fire Slivitch is situclted ir:l1:lodLltoly outside the ontro.ncc to the Sules ROOl-,l.

In view of the inc re ir-'6 trend tOl.'!c.rds self-service :.md considerin!; fCl:lDle drivers, funotionc.l simplicity is Totol's aim,- cnd to this e:ld it is our policy to instc. 1· terninal pressure indicCltors on the forecourt rather. thun uir,Avater towors or vrc.ll typo air guuges for the inflGtion of tyres.

To conclude this section .of ny tc.Ik, I should nontion the services '\1\'<:; receive from other conpccnies inhorent in the development of our fillins!servico stations_

u) Fw,q Lhdtod SUPljly us y;ith service for tho L,nc1 testing of punps, tc.nl<:s, linos and V03.1tS. Ir.. addition, this COj:,lpany cnrrics out rogulc;r DDintonnnc0 to such oquiprlont on our behalf.

b) Our sign r'nnufacturors instull our signs and rosuL;,rly nuintain the!:l both cloaning, checking, ::md replncing nIl defective at the ti::lo of thoir ncintsn::\l1co visits. This includes the of all conte:inod electrico.l ;cnr.

c) The nnintoncnce of lubrication is coverod by siLular ugreanoabs.

DISCUSSIOJ:-T •

\1r. G.n. Doo.n (Solihull) sdd he understood th"t Total supplied 0. 600 gdlon t::nili: to receiYG -r:uste Botor oil. Was this instullod at nIl T otnl Sh,tions?

}iJ:r. RaiuS1'iOrth·: Yos. This c.ppnrntus [;OOS into all our standard stdions tho lubricc.tion bay _ This is sc:pL,rc.toly c:::"ptied nnd ,,-mste oil taken away_

Dir. Dean commanded this prncticc c.nd thar.. s::lid ilYour Company favours off-sot .rill :-ipes. -:!by?

Er, IIuil1Slirorth: The bc'.sic r,-'c.son' T,S thnt of tanks takos placo o:limy from the forocourt aren. Horrovor, YTO arc aYV-:;:lrc this is not tlccoptuble to ull loed authoritios and VfG do not, thereforo, lay da-m nny o.nd fast rulos.

rllr. F. J ohnsor. (Bsso PetrolollL1_ Co.) : Do you fireproof the timbor in your soctionc.l 'ouildin;s, :::\s this must be o.n oxpens ivo process?

Iilr. Hninsworlh: No _ But '1:IG do surround it ir:. non-inflarrrm.abla muteriLls feltin;', panellinc and so on. It is intcrostinc: to note that our. pN-fobricated udministrc,tive build1116 of iToodGl1 construction has been accepted in the .installation area ut Ellosmcre Port.

Mr. T.A. Sharpless (National Benzole) asked if there had been any resistance to unit type construction whon devoloping or redeveloping in spacial nraas of control.

Mr. Hainsworth: lJ ot as yot.

lVIr. K. Hughes (Stafford) onquired if Total's policy favoured Managers or Tonnnts • Ho w·as aY'..xious to bo able to pin point individuo.ls in the event on non-cOl'1.plio.."YJ.ce of licence conditions.

liIr. Hainsvmrth replied that in gonoral torms no favours 0.1"0 shmm. Oil Companies have ono main object; that to sell potrol by the best availablo means.

:Mr. W.H. Matthei'rs (Dorby) On the quostion of submission of proposals to local authorities. Do you cOl1Bidor that tho petroloum officer should be aoqua.inted ·Vlith dctnilod pla.ns at the soma time as the plalllling offioor? You have not said muoh concclT.ing self-service. Havo your Coropnny (my plans on this issuo?

}!Ir. Hainsworth We do endoavour to koop in closo assoointion ",,7ith offioors of local particularly tho petroloum officer. As regards solf servico" wo arc vatching the position very closely, but ""Ye arc very T:lUch in your hands.

Mr. J. Boer (Worcostor) had tyro cOT:ponts to mako. Ho folt that oil coropnnies wero prepared te pay a big fiS'Ure for a sito and thon endoavourod to oconorUse on small oost itoT:1B aff ooting safety. Mr. Beer accepted tho Totr;.l planrJ.inr; tirlc-tablo, whioh gavo tho potroloum offioer the Ohrul0Q of during devolopment, rathor than finding dovclopnont oonploted ::md presented as a "fait aooOl:lpli" ·with the ap;?lioation for a liconco.

lire 1.Ji. Geo (Wolvorhanpton) : Firo prover:.tioll offioors 0.1"0 not likoly to aocept woodon buildings if' consulted. The trouble is suoh offioors 0.1"0 not nlv;ays consulted boforo suoh buildings l',re oreotod.

lilr. Hainsvrorth ropliod that whero there ·wns opposition to ·wooden l)uildines" they would develop in trnditionul natorials •

lire J. Beer proposod 0. voto of' thanks to the spoakor.

Tho rooting '_c'Jjournod for lunch. Upon roas sonbling, +'ho Chairman call_ Ul l OI1 lfr. l' .R.4 F: c';:at'dsC£l# Bnginuer ruii1 SU%NQyOr, SoJ.lhull, 'lioprosont his pD.per.

"TI-IE OFFICER .A.l'ID TIm DEVELOF"iENT OF PErROL FILLING AND SERVICE STATIOnS"

by T.R. Richardson, A.I>IJ.C.E., M.I.].lun.E., A.H.T.P.I., Borough Engineer and Surveyor, Solihull.

In so far as Looa1 Goverru:r.ont Offioers are oonoernod, thore are primarily threo olear out but inter-rolated oodos of logislation on tho statuto Book and thoso are : Tho Publio Hoalth Codo, Tho Housing Codo nnd The Town Planning Code. Thoro is no doubt tho.t tho nest tho most comprehonsivo and the most far roaching of all is, sinoo tho passing of tho Town and Country Planning iU)t" 1947, tho Plnru.une Codo •

It is this latter code that I wish to talk about this 8fternoon, Rnd in particular as to how it concerns the Petrol Filling and Service Stations. I should, however, like to open by explaining th::lt the 1947 Act had :,1any objects, but the ones which are relevant to you are the

(1) The replacement of the former system of planning control through the medhun of rigid pl:mning schemes by Cl new system of control through the medium of flexible development plrms propared by a gre2tly reduced number of Pl,uming Authorities Rnd subjocted to constant review.

(2) To prohibit (with excoptions) the c:'rrying out of any kind of development whetsoever without the consont of the Local Plrmning Authority.

Most of the provisions of the 1947 and subsequent Acts have boen incorporClted into the1962 Act, which h88 mainly been a consolidating Act. The Locnl Pl::mning Authorities are the Count;{ Councils and the County Boroue,'h Councils, but in the case 0f the County Councils much of the cby to day c0ntrol of development has boen delegated to the Urban and Rural District

I hnve already said that tho two main functions of Local Planning Auth'Jri ties Qro to prop?,re development p12ns sh0wing how they consider their districts should dove lop over the next twenty years, nnd to contr0l development flO that it conforms with the dovelopment plan nnd other rolevant pl::cnning factors.

The noxt point which fHlls to bo d.efined is "what is development". Now this is n tero which is most complicated to definG shortly, for there nre many aspocts of this IDntter, but the definition in the 1962 Act (Secticms 221(1) and 12(1) is GS fsllowsg(a) the cnrr;yine: out of building opo:rn tions 9 ongineoring operations, mining oporntions or other oporations in, on, over or ill1dor land, or, (b) the making of any mntcrinl in the uso of nny buildings or other land. dofinition is widened by do fining "build.ing oporationsl! 3S including-z-

(a) rebuilding oporCltbns Cb) strncturr::.l ql tomtion of bui1dings (c) structure,l adcii Hons to buildings, :'.nd (d) other opor7.1tions n')rmaJ.1y undortnken by n person ccrryinG on businoss as Cl builder.

Another importrmt point is thnt "ongin(,oring operFltions" include the form3tion or laying out of moans of accoss to highwo.ys, whother public or privClte, for vehiclos or foot p3ssengors. One further point thnt must be made is thnt a Imntorial c11o.nge of use l in land, buildings, structures or erections, constitutes development and requiros planning perr'lisGion.

l'Iow nIl t}}is uxpJ.nnntion of the;· lognl si tU8tion rO'llly lcC!ds us -Go the point whore WG C2n unclurstrmd tl1.nt Local PIGnning Authorities 11nvo tho stctutory duty of controlling d0velopmont, [\nd that the constructio!1 of Fil1ing Sto.tions :cud Sorvico St'ltions requiros pLuming pormission. It follovvs, thoroforo, thnt tho patrol rotailing industry ElUSt inGvi tClbly' cono b'To<::tly under the influence of the Plo.nning Authorities.

How nre compo.nies 2nri pl)rsons rvishing to obte.in plrmning perr;:ission for Petrol Sorvico and Filling St:".tions to proceod? There arc two t;Y]Jos of plmming rtpplicntion. Tho first ono is cm outline 2pplico.tion, which is usunlly put in to find out if in priciplo The Local Plmming Authority would bo prepG.red to npprove the developmont y,hicn is proposod. The Planning Authority gonerGlly requiro it to bo Qccompaniod by GkGtch '!}l::ms showing just form of

development is in mind, and these details give them an opportunity to considor whethor tllGre "'.re serious nmoni ty or highway access problems which will arise if the development is pormitted. These outline applications Gre normnlly granted subjoct to :J. concli tion that there sh(111 bo a subuoquent by the Local Planning Authority on any mo.ttoro relnting to the :::iting, design and external oppoarance of the buildillg. The developer thus gets to know before he incurs too much expenSd whether in principle his proposed development is acceptable to the Local Authority. Once an outline applicntion is gro.nted, the Locnl I'b.nning Authority '11'0 committed to allowing the proposed development in Gomo form or other, the only matters requiring subsequent npprovnl by the Authority being such as nre specifically resorved in the permission grunted on the outline application.

At this point I would. enter a plea th,:,t when outline rrpplications 3:re submitted, the developer should have clearly in mind and should tel1 the Plrmning Authority what he intends to do. I havo come across cases where the scope of development has been conaiderably incroased nfter an outline permission has been granted, which has raised problems for the Local Plo.nning Authority, which in the end havo meant that the development could not proceed in the way that the npplico.nt hOod finally intenc.ed.

The second one is the formal application for development, and the method of epplying for it is dee.lt with under Article 5 of the General Development Order, 1950. The application has to be made on a form issued by the Local Planning Authority nnd obtainable from that Authority or from the Council with whom the application is to be lodged wherG there are delegatGd powers involved. This sort of application must include such particulars and plans in full detail as will enable the Local Planning Authority to consider the m(ltter fully. It is normal, incidentally, to apply for Byelnw permission under the Public Health Acts at the same time, and in adriition for nny approva.ls required under other legislation relating to the storage of petroleum, etc.

The Planning Authority, on receipt of (1n application, must send to the applicant a notification that it has been received. The period during which n Local Plnnning Authority must e;iVG notice of its decision on the applicr.tion is, genornlly speaking, two months, but :)..n the case of an application affecting a Tr'lmk Road it will be three months. If the applicant dOGS not honr from the Local Planning Authority within the appropriate period, then ho has the right of appeal to the Minister as if his application had, in fact, been refused (Section 24). It is quite often, however, that a Planning Authority for one reason or [rruth",r C3.nnot alii']. "'\'ith an application wi thin the specified. perioe. ,'\ .•.. thon it it; tJ;'" 1 for them to ask for rm extension of the perioc'.. . .. clc;cision c< I,ocul Planning Authority upon an tIll:S':'; be in vll'i ti:rlg, 2nd if any conditions are att[whod to the grnnt of perraission, or if thero is a total refusal of permission, tho reasons there for must be given in writing.

There is a right of appeal to the Minister against the decision of a Loc1::1 Planning Authol'i ty or in respect of the Autl.J.ori ty failing to give g decision at all. The notice of appeal must be given to the Minister of Housing and Local Govornment within one moItth of the receipt of tho Local Planning Authority's decision or of the' expiry of the appropriate period of time within which a decision ought to ha.ve been given. On appe81 against the decision of the Planning Authority, the Minister normnlly sends one of his Inspectors to hold a Public Inquiry, c',l though in some oinor cases the mn tter is dealt with by correspondence and site visit. In the event, the Minister may allow or dismiss the apponl or may reverse or vary [my po.rt of the Local Plnnning Authori s decision ,'llld mny d0::11 with the application as if it bad been made to him in the first instance.

I should stress at this stngo tho.t in the case of Trunk Roads, where the of Tmnsport nre the Highway Authority, they may "direct" thd the Local Planning Authorityrofuse the application or put

such conditions on it GS they nmy decido to be necossary from the highway point of viow.

This, I think, covors the legal and o.dministrative side of the m:1.ttor quite briefly, for I shou1'} vm.rn you th:1.t this aspect of tovm planning hcs become vary complex to d.oo.l fully vii th tb.is sic1.0 of the subject would require 0. number of lectures in themselves.

No d')ubt m[!ny of you will be wanting an anSVlGr to the question 1,71ut [,re tho ::lins of the PLnming Authorities in rolr\tion to Filling St"tions ond why in fnct is nny control necessnry? Tho answer should, I think, bo obvious, but it is something which I should like to gp into it little further. I,liUing Sbtions hn.ve a be3ring on the lives of other peoplo. They havo beGring on what planners call ty" in two wnys. Tlw first o.r8 they good looking buildings or filling stntions? or 11re they bnd looking? The second o.mc.ni do they r.ffoct tho pri Vo.cy :mc. living conditions of poop1e living nonrby by reCls:m of irlCro[1sod traffic, noise or o.ny 0ther similo.r fnctor? Does the concentration of activity nt this particuln.r point conduce to who.t I co.ll good noighbourliness, or, to put it in plnin terms, would you like one next door to Y')1ll' homo? There is thon the very important question of highway safety. The number of vohic1os on our ro::tds is incro[lsing the while. 1932 1942 1952 1962

2t million million 5 million Over 10,000,000

nnd it is estimated. that this 1attor figure will cloublc itself in the llext eight to ten yenrs, so thC'.t wo v:ill h[we vehicles on the crowdod roads in this country. Good higl:vmy design c:mductive to rond s['\fety is import:mt noV/ nnd will become more impcrtant in the future, o'l1d I think you should remomber tho.t and Pbnning Authorities have imposed upon tl18m the duty of considerine those of ctpplicnti.ons from this point of view. The following brief sto.toDent, which was macle of the Minister's goner::l policy, is r::ther interesting.

"Petrol Filling Sto.tions by their l1o.i1ll'e introduce trnffic ht,\zards. IJnlon Cl Stntioll is nocessary tho fringe of [1, built-up o.rea is probo.bly the best plnce for onc to serve tr.1.rough if thore is sufficient l:md for a well layout nKlking it possible to deal \/i th customers clear ()f the highvr:ty ::md to provide n.cCGsses giving snfe visibili ty. On vS',st open strotches of road, even 011 sites well pb.ced nnd cnpnble of good lo.yout, tho traffic h:J.zorc. is much incroe.sed and so no St2tions ought to bo allowed without some g()od reason; a genuine lack of facilities to meot essential needs of road users, or the replncement of :m obsolete or more dangorous Station. On neW By-passes and other new ronds, C1 Petrol Station should normally be unnecessary on a stretch of road loss thrm 12 p.lilcs long. Where there is some objection to " Station on tr[lffic dc:.ngor or harm to amonity, it is proper to consider wbether the objection is overridden by th8 neod for 0. St[ltion, but it would go beyond the proper SCOpG of planning control to rojoct r:n applic.:ltion solely beccmse there seemed to bo no need fe)l' the Stntion; in othor words, thc,rc must be [: posi tivo objection to the Strition, such as trnffic hazo.rd or injury to ccr.1oni ty, to wr.rrant rofusal of [\ permission".

The ll.nin fGctors which must normG1ly o.riso for considerntion g-

1. The effect of the proposod Station on trr:ffic flow rmd roo.d sClfety.

2. The effoct on nmonity.

3. Whether it will bo in nccorclc.ncG wi tll tho cleve1opmont especially the lr:nd is v2luo.ble o.cricultural lnnd which should not bo

4. Location, layout e>.nd

As Filling Stations provide a local service, they may be accepted in residential neigh1)ourhoods if the site is sui table. In a particular appeal decision, permission was refused by the Minister because the site was "small and closely adjoined by private houses whose occupants would be caused disturbance ll •

There are a few further points on which guidance has been given by the Hi:c.ister in Circulp,r No. 9/58, which I would commend. to your close attention. In examining cmy particular case, it is suggested that the following general observations might be of

rrrunk Roads

The Minister of Transport's view is that on fast open stretches of road, even on sites well placed nnd cRpablc of good la.yout, all Petrol Stations Clre open to objection from the point of vimv of traffic and should r:ot be allowed unloss there is a very good 1'oason, for example, a Gonuine lr:ck of facilities to meet essential needs, or the possibility of replacing an obsolete ,:md more dangerous station.

On now by-passes and other new roo.ds, the Minister of Transport t2kos the view that normally a Petrol Station should be unnecessary on a stretch of l'oad less t::l3n 12 miles long.

Divisional R02d Engineors will act in accordance with these viows in giving directions in rospect of p1:J.nning applications for now Petrol Stntions on trurJe roads.

Other Roads

The objections to Potrol Stations on trunlc roads will often apply to Stations on other roads, and in dee.lirlg with applications for pla.nning permission, 10c[ll Authorities ';'lill no doubt boar in mind the view set out in the paragraph abovo.

Any increase in the nu:nlJer of ::',tations may lead to both loss of amenity Zlnd to increase of tl':1ffic daY'.{;ers 9 but in built-up areas speod limits are genorally in force emd othor forms of development may already interfere with the flow of traffic, so that the fringe of a built-up [lroa may well be the plnco where PGtrol Stations to serve through trnffic will prove open to objection, provided that there is sufficient land for a 'woll design.od layout.

A Station should not be locRted opposite D. break in a central reservation on Cl dun} carriagowa;T r03d, etS this is likely to encour'o.ge traffic to cross tho' roo.d; nor should the St". tiOYl bo too close to a side road connection, junction or roundabout, 2lthough a Station may, wi th advantage, be sited where trc,ffic is slowing up in any case, providing it is not so close to the junction as to interfere with weaving or turning traffic. Sometimes 2 service road layout would be suitable, pennitting two or moro fuelling stations and possibly a transport cafe also, whilst at the same time limiting to two the points of [lCCoss. Ideally, Stations at opposite sidos of the road should be PQirod to serve traffic in both directions, [lnd so sited that the nearside Station is seen first. Such paired Stations noed not be in the samo ownership.

b'wout of

Whether in n built-up aroa 01' on road in opon country, a Pctl'ol Stntion should be :.1blo to deal with its customers cloar of the highway ,::md its accessos should be dosignod to givo tho best possible visibility. If possible, tue width of the <::'IC00SS should be nboult· 24 ft. nnd the rndii of the curvos tho entrano rmd exit about 35 ft. If reasonably practicnble, it should bo designod for one way working through the Stution, with the pTh."l1pS sited as near the exit 88 possible, in order to ensuro tho.t the vehic10s vdll not st2nd on the carringeway while vmi ting to be refuolled. •

Quostion of

The Ministor has been asked how far need should bo taken into account by [\ Local Plo.nning Authority in considering an npplication for Cl ?8trol Station. The Minister thinks that to set up a control based entirely on considerations of need under which applicntions might be rojected evon where thorr) Yvoro no amenity, trC'!ffic or othor plcmning objections, would go beyond the proper scope of planning. i3ut thoro will very of ton be some plenning ob.joction, evon th':mgh it mny not bo such as to rule out th\:: proposal without further nrgumont. 'Nhc;ro thore is, the quostion of tr2ffic noed can properly be [md if no strong c,",so is made out on grounds of tr'11.ffic noed, then the plnnni::1g elbjcctions mny becomo decisive. In this contect, the Ministor would not regard, the absence of n pump supplying a particular brand of petrol as constituting of itself a need for another Station.

Desi@ of

The requiroments of tho petrol rettliling companies emd the motorist Gre similar, cmd I would submit nelt incompn ti ble with those of tho Planning Authority. The retailor wishes to bo able to soIl his products cfuoickly o.nd efficiently tho motorist wishes to find the petrol and oil elf his choice nt reasonRbly frequent intervals over the country and sufficient of them opon on Sundays and at night. He wnnts to recof,"l1ise El Stntion solling those products at n reasonable distance in order to have plenty of time to enter tho Station without fuss. Inside the he wants to find sensibly and simply arranged so thnt he c[ln quickly roceive speedy :md efficient service.

As for the Plnnning Authoritios, I would suggest that all the forogoing requiromonts are quite acceptable to them. vTIlcro, therefore, is there any oonflict of viow for it must be admitted that this oocurs more often them it should? Firstly, the problem of loc,o:,tion the fact thnt tllGre are a nwnber of compoting comp::mies rotailing petrol gives rise to what might, from some points of view, be considered the lU1necessary duplication of Petrol Filling Stations and great commercial pressure to acquire obtain ph:nning permission for additional sites often in unsuitable locations. Ono often finds that junctions 1.''lhioh are about to be improved to be a gront draw to the cOlTJIlercial interests; Trunk Rond site duplication is another ono which gives rise to difficultios. There is no doubt that tho incroasing number of motor cars on tho road make the CGse for additionnl f8cilities, but need should bo the criterion rather th21l any other f:J.ctor.

The second conflict relates to dctnil dosign where many Filling Stations are m8de into advertising sites unloss the Planning Authorities nre vigilnnt. A well designed Filling St2tion cmd there are many sf these cnn be most nttractive; on the other hand, momy are dreadful oxhibi tions of b2d taste, badly mnintained rmd being primo examples of what wo call "cluttor".

"The community as [\ whole h3S a right to expect that users of the road nnd those who minister to their needs do not despoil the country by shoddy :md tasteless buildings cmd ugly ndvGrtisements. The wide powers vested in Locnl Authorities under tho Town nnd Country planning Acts are Gvidence elf the no.tioncl conscience in this nnttor. AGain the community has n. right to dem::md thn.t the snfety of thoSG who USG the rond should not be endangered by ill-sited Sorvic0 8btions with awkward cntr::mccs and Gxi ts" •

Tb::t is an extract from a bo::>klot issuocl some yoars ago by one of the major oil companies. If it wore ndhol'od to by ill concerned in this problem, thc Plnnning Authol'i tics would. ono delightcd.

DISCUSSION

Mr. J .D. D':1vies (Bridgnorth R.D.C.)1 Aftor pl:c:nning permission is grnn:tod, ,tt \vh['t st,:cgo shcmld th0 petrole'\.lr.l officer be brought into discus cion?

Mr. Riohnrdsom In my Autilo::dty, n rcprosont2tivG of the Public Henl th DOPQ:dmont, which is the Department 8dministoriflG the Petroloum Acts, gets a list of applicntions ''.nd is consulted for views right fr0m the

Mr. T.Il. Keith (Wcclnosfield U.D.C.) Clskocl whnt rego.rd a plnnning authority had for future dovol::>pment, wh8ro, for example, a filling st3tion hnd been pcrrni ttod Ol11.n fringo arena ]'.11'. Richnrdsong This is very important. Grent caro should be tnkon to mDke provision for pLm with rogard to such futuro clovolopmont. If bec["luse of this the Plaw1ing Officor objects to tho proposnl, it is then ,:-:1-;\'1].;>rs open to him to :TInke suggestions t'J ml nlternC!tivo site.

Mr. R.S. Housoman (Shell-Mox and B.P. indiccition of wh[l.t pbm1ing Quthori ties will future filling station dovolopEont?

Con you give us an be looking for in siting

Mr. Richardsong Avoid resiclnotial ar'oD.s, except for very small 3tTGions. 'l'he best future devolopment will bo in the fo:cm of lc.rger ::md moro efficient in commcrcinl areas. On m:>torw:lYs and hGavilJl" trafficked ronds 7 stations -Co be plclced on c'9posoto siclcs of th,; road. .ArlOthor problem is whGther sorvicing c:nd filling togother is r:dvcmtngeo'Us fr'Jm the pIt'mning point of view, but, of cours0 9 this is Q mnttDr Ior the corn.rrlorcial interests involvod.

Mr. W.IL Matthews (Derby) g VHlat your viows on tho suggestion thnt on giving up aldol' sites which o.re of r.n obsolete t3rpe, a petroleum comp2ny may bo favoured in the: C',ovolopmont of a modern stRtion in cmother nrea, rnther on the lines of [! brewery relinquishing [: licence in order to open up new promises in n better area?

Mr. Richardson: It is a fnct tho.t brewerios do give up a licence on less remlJl10rative promises in to obtain a liconce for n more economic and efficiont unit. It is debatable whothor this principle can bo applied to a petrol filling station. Thero is, howevGr, some need for some form of control.

Mr. B.J. Slncl;: (Hon. Momber)7. Mo.ny first clnss filling stations <ire in the courso of time used 1'01' the s8.10 of Bocond-himd cars. Does this then constituto n ch8.ng8 of usage?

Mr. Richarclsong In ,iuclginC this there must be eviclence of "n p.Q.1i.?::!ial chango of' use". A loc"].l cmthori ty C'\l1. serve nn enforcement notiee requiring the stopping of such 8::\108. It would then De opon to nn operator to mnko a pl:rr..ning npplication f·":)r the new use. In the event of n dispute, the Idinistry Inspector .would deal with both '1Spocts of tho matter the enforcement notice Lind the planning o.pplicntion.

H R L]l (Tr'rl 1 t) d ·1 t t 1 ;" mr. •• oor ",.h QOrmJ.ns er onqu1ro. W -:..n aC·lIJ.on 18 Li '::on regar,,].ng commercial firms v.'ith (.wm inst811ations 9 it nppoared to him th3t plam1ing authority wns not &hm;rs roquirecl.

IvIr. Richardson

This is a 0 omplicated matter. It is set out in the T cwm and Country Planning (General Development) Order, 1950, that on oommercial ourtilages oertain thinr;s :may be oarried out as "permitted developmentll, but oareful enquiries should be :rrmde before oarrying out the work.

Mr. S.V. Robinson (Brierley Hill) sussested that due to the heavy inorease in road traffio, there is a trend to inoreasing the oapacity of existing storage and sales faoilities, whioh, in turn, enoourages inoreased trnffic on the adjaoent roads and forecourt whioh may not have been oonsidered in the original applioation.

Mr. Riohardson: I agree, tIus is happoning. Consideration must be Given to tho nur.iller of vehioles using the station l bearinG in r.dnd the size of the foreoourt and the traffic problenw in the vioinity.

A vote of thanks to If!!'. Riohardson was proposed by Mr. R.P. HoldrolJ'ay.

Tea was ldndly providecl by the Mayor, Councillor R.D. Tulbot, MeA., J.P. Hr. D. Hall proposed a vote of thanks to Counoillor Talbot and the Walsall Corporation for the hospitality and faoilities nfforded and also to 11[r. lIe Griffiths for his efforts in arranging suoh 0. suooessful

TRUE srORY.

It was almost 4 otolook when the shrill ring of the telephone broke nw dreron. of basld.ng in the sun on the Costa Brnva and brought me baok to tho roality of the English oli:m.ato.

"Oh, 1ho. H---- , this is the Fire Brigade. You are the petroleum Offioer, aren l t you'?" IIYes ll wns rather wary reply. "Woll, wo have just had a report from the Polioe that there has boen nn aooident at F----- involving n oar and a roadside petrol pump, and 'we would like your o.ssisto.noe".

IlAt F---- , that is outside rrw distriot", I replied, blessing the County Counoil,who had reoently opposed. the Borough t s olnim for absorbing this po.rbioular area. lilt is in the A----- R.D.C., :Mr. C---- is the Petroleum Offioer I1 11 ff_ H ha for A---. Thank you so muoh, Iu.A.-. -, sorry we :r;re troubled. you" •

receiver. 4 a.m. 1

I graoefully aooepted the apology and replaoed. the As I gab baok into bed, a olook struok four

VISITS

WAYNE TANK AND PUMP CO. LTD., BRACKNELL.

BERKS.

On Friday 14th. June, a party of eight members of the Group, at the invitation of the Wayne Tank and Pump Co. Ltd., toured the Company's works at Bracknell :n Berkshire.

An early start was made from Solihull, and the journey through delightful English Vlas unev€ut:ful, although remarks were passed t:'--cat a certain Mini Traveller completed the journey with only two wheels in contact vvl th the road the nearside wheels it is presumed bearing in mind the density of the front seat passenger! However, "che party arrived in good time and was met by Messrs. G. Ashley, the of the Company, W. Allington, Assistant to the Sale" Manager (Automotive) and J. Brookes, a representative of the Comp::-;':J.Y well known to us in the Midlands. No time was lost in splitting the party into two groups and starting the tour of the fac+oT.Y.

The present factory \7aS opened in 1957, when the Company moved from Sydenham and, coverirS- seven acres, has been built and equipped to produce petrol pumps and bulk measuring instruments to the high standard set by the Company. The factory does not produce its own pressings and castings, out all machining, painting and assembly work is carried out at Bracknell. The Company insists on a very high standard of work from its contractors and this was very evident by the number of inspec-l;ors enga.ged in the close examination of components, any single item found to be faulty results in the whole consignment being returned to the

Wayne pumps, of course, a:ce used to dispense every brand of petrol not only in this country, bt.;.t in many countries throughout the world and it was interesting to see that exactly the same high standard was set for manufacture and assembly where ever the instruments' final destination. Price-computing heads referring to "pesetos", "centimes" etc. were quite a novelty t-. us, as were the latest models being fitted with a hand operating lever no electrical safety problems there! There was not a tT.GQendous amount of automation in evidence and it was \.'x:;Jlai:'16d to us that se-reral models of instruments being produced, and ·cherefore batch production type of manufacture, do not lend themselves to full automation. Nevertheless, the production lines were obviously veT.Y efficient; each pump starts life as four housing corner pieces and a base and, having passed through the various stages of ending at the testing section where it was fully tested for accuracy and performance with white spirit, both at fast and slow speeds. Numerous 'islands' on the shop floor were noticed, where smoking or other naked lights were prohibited and these were where white spirit was being used for testing purposes, not only of the completed instruments but of the many individual units, these "No Smoking" restrictions being demanded by the Factory Inspector.

One operation which seemed to attract considerable attention was that employed to test the many flanges and gaskets on the solo-unit, which involved sealing the outlet and connecting an air line to the inlet side of the unit, immersing it in water, and with an internal air pressure applied to the unit of between 10 and 20 Ibs. per sq. in., examining all joints and shafts for air leaks, and correcting any found a very simple yet thorough test considering that the petrol pressure is in the order of 3 lb. per sq. in. when the instrument is in use.

for the party had been booked at The BerJstede, a Trust House Hotel at Asoot, 0. faw miles fror.1 Brncknell. Mr. W. Gilberl" the AssistantSel"lrice I{mnager of the CODpany, joined us a.t the Hotel for a vary excellent moal.

In the afternoon, the tour and inspeotion of tho continueil. und interesting tUscussions wore held with tho guides on the merits, or othG:t'iTise, of suoh things as blending punps, twin nodels, stainless stool housing panels, lighting equipment on the. instrunents and ooin operated dispensers. The autonntio nozzle manufactured by Tfayne 1 s und the Kismet nutonatio nozzle, was olso studied 'Yi. th .interest •

T oa was provided at the works ut the end of the tour und '1"ras ploo.sod to neet B.A.. Ta.rgett, who at one of tho Group lIeetings presemed 0. paper on the Blending PUlTl.}?

The party left Bracknell at about 4.30 pr,l." 'bivO nenbers on in a Southerly direction to probably havoo in the Solont by enjoying 0. boating weekend" the ren;::dnder returning safely to Solihull.

So ended a most instructive and enjoyable visit to the faotory, in vlhose produots this Group is so closoly interostod und our thanks nnd appreointion to the Conpt,ny urc nost sinoere, ·those being very ably exprossed by 'cho Chuirnun, Mr. H. Griffiths" to our hosts at the end of tho vis it.

It is understood that a further party",,1.ll hove the opportunity of repeating this visit le.tor in the yoar.

K .H. ---,------"------.-----

SHELL REFIFERY AT STANLOW.

,

Menbors of the Group who attonclod the Rosiclential lIid. Week sohool atil.ttingham Park curlier this year, werG onoe again, by tho kindness of Sholl Eox uncl B.P. Ltd invited to visit tho Stanlovr Refinery. The purty left Birnlinghnn by a oOMh provided by their hosts with liossrs R.S. HousOT'cUn und H. Canter of Shell-Hex and B.P. in ohargo. After stopping ut furthorassenbly points in Wolvorh1JL1pton and at Proes Heath, the pnrty arrivGcl at BtunlOvr at nid-daYI vtKero they wore met by l1r. J .iN. Tons of the Refinery, who gave a talle on its oporntionnl history.

After lunch Cl tour of the Refinery, undor the oapable guidnnoo of 11ossrs A.J Broa;r:nn and J.W. Tor..s, VinS :mncl0, and as on the previous visit, the party found every aspect of the refining proo ess of nbsorbinrc; interest.. Light refreshmonts were taken at the oon91usion of thd tour whon Hr. J. Easton (Burton.-'ll.ponTrent C.B.) proposed a voto of thanks to the Shell H.efining Co. Ltd • . for thoir hospitality nncl to Tor,1s Qncl hiscolloaguos for their helpful nndfriendly cor.montaries.

Dinnor 11',0.8 kindly provided by tho Conpany at Wolverhanpton und yet oooe again thanks nre due to those ,'rho made the arrongencnts for v'That was 0. most enjoyab1o Qnd interesting visit. During dinner the than:cs of the Group to srs. Sholl-Eex and B.P. Ltd. '\,lere expressed bytho Chnirr:lan, lIr. H. Griffiths and Mr. R.S. Housennn suitably responded on behalf of the Canpeny.

P .G.H.