WATER SUPPLY FOR ARCH HILL

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 75, 29 March 1895, Page 2

WATER SUPPLY FOR ARCH HILL

POLL TO-MORROW.

The ratepayers of Arch Hill are called upon to record their votes to-morrow for

or againsb a proposal to raise bhe money necessary to supply the district witn water. It is mosb desirable that every ratepayer who can attend the poll will do bo, for no more important question has ever come before bhe district. The polling place ia Newton West Schoolroom, and bhe hours from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. ■ />-

In deciding tbis quesbion Arch Hill residents are in a very much better position than some of bhe _ad]acenb suburban districts were ; bhe efficiency of bhe supply and bhe advantages derived from its possession are no longer matters of speculation or experiment; they are well-established facts. Ono district after another has adopbed a water-supply scheme of some kind, and in every case has been subsequently satisfied with bhe wisdom of the sbep. Pure water is one of the most indispensable things bo bhe maintenance of a healthy life, and no wellgoverned district would remain without ib if attainable even by .groat sacrifices. Water ranks, indeed, on an equality with food, and ib is surprising how careless many people are wibh regard bo this great household necessity.

Arch Hill is a district very easily supplied with water. The whole schema is estimated bp cost nob more than £l,Bld, and bhe money can be obtained from the Governmenb ab the low rate of 5 per cenb., including a sinking fund which will extinguish the*aebbin26years,andgivethe service as an endowment to the district free. The assessment of bhe district amounts to £100,000, and bbc ratepayers number 286. The annual burden, therefore, would be a mere trifle, A special rabe of in the £, involving a ratepayer in only 2s Id a year for every £100 of his assessment, will cover bhe legal liability of the non-consumer. It is reasonably estimated that the reduction in insurance rates alone will recoup this—not to mention the enhancement) of property, in respect to its letting und selling values.

It is a facb which every rabepayer should bear in mind bhat Arch Hill can never bake firab-rate or even second - rate rank as a suburb or a desirable place of residence unbil a good waber supply ia obbained. If bhe scheme were bo cosb bwice the amounb estimated, the water supply would still be an excellenb investment from a purely pecuniary poinb of view. Residents spend many paunds in improving their properties, while they have hitherto neglected this power of combining to carry oub an improvement which will benefits every property in the disbrict to a very large extent. They havo lagged sadly behind bheir neighbours, in a manner bhab is altogether unaccountable with respect to a district which is inhabited by bo many go-ahead and enlightened people.