THE BOROUGH AND ITS PROGRESS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 77, 7 May 1914, Page 7

THE BOROUGH AND ITS PROGRESS.

HOW THE TOWN IS MANAGED.

It was said in the beginning that the Borough Councils of Lyttelton had done well by the citizens, keeping pace with the progress of the years, until now Lyttelton, as far as municipal services are concerned, is as up to date as any, and s#me account of the borough's progress must prove this. v The present Council of Lyttelton

Borough is composed of Mr J. R. Webb (Mayor) and Councillors J. H. Collins, W. T. Foster, M. J. Miller, J. T. Norton, F. J. Page, W. Radcliffe, N. C. Sehumaker,:T. J. Walklin, and Dr J. Guthrie, while the Town Clerk is Mr L. A. Stringer. Many of these gentlemen have been citizens of the borough from its foundation as a borough, and though the population, approximately 400& at the present date, has never suffered any great fluctuations in 40 years, neither increased nor decreased to any extent, yet the progress of the town has been steady and the requirements of the community met as they arose. It seems a far ery now from the days when water had to be bought, and when the sewage ran through the open gullies, to the thriving town of the present day, ' 4 furnished with all modern conveniences,'' as the house agents put it, yet that is only 43 years since. Water and Drainage. The Borough Council commenced to construct a sewage system in 1871, and the water supply system was started in 1876, when a small steam plant was installed in Canterbury Street to raise water a height of 200 ft. From that the various councils went steadily on, until now Lyttelton ds • one of the most progressive municipalities

in the Dominion. The first settlers of the Canterbury Association landed in Lyttelton in 1850—13 years later it was created a municipality by thq Provincial Council of Canterbury, and in 1868 it was constituted a borough. The Water Supply.

Although Lyttelton, with its many old-fashioned buildings, gives an impression of age, its municipality is modern in every way, aud though the designers of Lyttelton (who, it is said, prepared the plans in England with, evidently, small knowledge of the site), made difficulties for the future in running the streets straight up the hill sides, yet the councils past and present have minimised inconveniences and provided excellent public services. The municipal high-pressure water supply, which is drawn from artesian wells on the Heathcote plains, is pumped to a height of 200 ft, and is then carried through the tunnel to a reservoir in Lyttelton, where another pumping plant lifts the water to a reservoir GOOft above sea level, from which the higher levels are supplied. There are in all six reservoirs, supplying different

levels, their total capacity being 1,250,000 "gallons. Although separate, they can at any time be all turned into the lower levels. A new pumping plant, driven by a suction gas engine, has recently been' installed at the springs; and besides supplying its own district >r the borough also- supplies the Heathcote township. Practically every buildiiig in the borough is connected, and tli'ough no charge is made for water listed for domestic purposes, the

revenue gained from supplying other purposes—*shipping, machinery, v stock, etc. —is '£sooo. The supply" has developed, JSrom small beginnings until; now therelß miles of water mains within the borough. ■

The Drainage System. There" is also an equally adequate sewage system, with separate watei; carriage, and it is compulsory for all residences to be connected with it. The provision of this very necessary service was made at a cost of £20,000. Another evidence of the progressive spirit of the municipality is its gas works; This was started by a private company, but in 1902 the borough it compulsorily. In the twelve. years of municipal ownership the output has increased threefold, from 5,000,000 cubic feet to 15,000,000 cubic feet,. and though working expenses have been increased the council has been .able to reduce the price of gas by half, enlarge the plant, extend the mains, and still make a profit. It cost the borough £20,000 to acquire the gas works, the interest, on loans, sinking fujxl, and the cost of manufacture, .etc.,-amounts to

£4778 a and the revenue from the supply is. about £SOOO a year. . # The Abattoir. The municipal abattoir is another provision for the gootf of the -public. This was built in 1902 at a cost of £SOOO, and supplies the meat for local requirements and shipping. About 12,000 head of cattle'are slaughtered here annually. Tnclvded in the slaughtering fees are fees for - grazing, and butchers may graze their cattle at the abattoirs until such time as they are to be kilied. There us also a small boiling-down works for the disposal of refuse, the right to use which is leased. The revenue from the abattoir is £550 a vent. The Library. Lrtteiton lias a public library and reading room, housed in the same building as the fire brigade station. It was founded 46 years ago by the Colonists' Association, and one of the legacies left by that body is a valuable collection of old book 3 of considerable historical value, many of them being o.t' great interest to the collectors of rare editions. But these volumes are apart from the library proper, which contains about 7000 volumes, 4000. being fiction, and is supplied regularly with 52 magazines and newspapers. It must be confessed, though, that the Lyttel-

ton public is not a reading one, or, at least, does not get its reading from the public library, for the subscribers are not more than a hundred. The fire brigade occupies the larger portion of the building. In the basement the hose reels are situated, the rest of the building not used for the purposes of the library comprises a fine billiards room, aud a library for the members of the brigade, a large social room, and sleeping accommodation "for two men. The

brigade, -whicli is' purely voluntary, has 25 members, and its cost" to the council is about £l5O a year. ,: Revenues and Loans. The area under the control of the Lyttelton Borough Council is 2370 acres, and the annual rateable value is £36,370. Values, however, are strangely various in Lyttelton, and there is a movement now on foot in the borough to introduce rating values. The .total revenue collected amounts to £16,000 a year, and though the .public debt is £82,000, a good half of that sum is invested in .profitable services, such as the gasworks, and is earning its own interest and sinking fund. Drainage works and municipal buildings are responsible for some £26,000 of the debt, but interest and sinking fund of that amount is met out

of ordinary revenue. The citizens liave

no special rates to pay, but one general rate of 1/9 in the £. The debt "will shortly be added to though, for just recently the ratepayers have authorised the raising of a loan of £BOOO for street improvements and other works. All the main streets are to be laid down in tarred macadam, curbed and channelled, and, since Lyttelton is a town of hills, and houses and 'streets must be built along the hills, it necessarily follows

that many retaining walls are required.

An Asset.

A part of the money is required for that purpose. In the past much of the work: of terracing the hills has been done by -'prison labour, and at the present time prison labour is emptloyed in widening Simeon Quarry and building a high and very solid retaining wall to supports. In connection with its, projected street improvements the Coiincil is also buying a stoam roller, and, as a stroke ■ of good fortune, just . recently a big deposit of blue' metal has; beeid; discpvcred?on one of the borough reserves. At present the reserve is leased, but the lease expires within a. few months and in anticipation the -Council is acquiring a 'crushing plant -with'which it- will be able to simply all the metal required for its fourteen, miles of streets, and more.