AUCKLAND DRAINAGE SCHEME

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 163, 10 July 1907, Page 6

AUCKLAND DRAINAGE SCHEME

ORAKEI PARK. .(By P. A. Vaile.) Since my article on the Auckland Drainage Scheme was published, I have had a conversation with the Mayor (Mr A. _M. Myers), and lie tells mc that •'when ihe proper time comes" he hopes to b. ;ibio to prove that I am wrong. V.'oli. hope is a lovely thing. Life without it would be a barren desert. Personally. I have no hopes either way. This was one of those brilliant flashes 1 of genius! [that cost mo about four minnte»' thought ami an hour's writing) that editors pay good British gold for, iind wliii-h. when published in a paper of standing, make public opinion, urless ; : ivcl wrong. Wherefore I may perIm|.s 1.? excused for suggesting that if 1 am to lie "proved wrong,'' there is no time, in m\ humble judgment, so oprior- ! line as the present. In fact : would, with all humility, urge that it should be doni. Otherwise, t''e jiivnt unthinking public will le dreaming iiii':i:i..- nf a lovely botanical gtird'ti in Oiakei basin, with cricket grounds ar 1 lawns, shady trees and rustic bridges, lake and stream, and fair wild fowl, and boats that glide upon the glassy wnter. and the c-ox. who wants to j-how his intimate knowledge of England, saying: "What about the Serpentine. Flossie? Let's go on through the lock." Reminds mc of Boulter's on Ascot Sunday, don't yon know?

They will do this unless they are promptly stopped: and so they should, for the alternative oi putting our sewage in the midst of that which is de-

mined to be our most populous and valuable marine suburb is too dirty'to be s riously countenanced. Fancy branding Orakei. one of our most charming resorts, as Sewertown. It must not be. The Mayor (Mr A. M. Myers) is not the only public functionary with whom I have had the felicity of holding con\erse.' I spent an hour and a-half with our city engineer. Mi- Bush, and it would surprise . most * people to know how interesting liable and courteous explanation made the interview. We had the sewerage plan's, tiie Admiralty charts, and his plans or diagrams of the recently conducted float experiments to test the currents, and really 1 almost feel now that I am entitled to rank as an expert. But now lo he a little serious. Mr Bush told mc that when he' -was appointed to Auckland he received instructions to interview Mr Midgley Taylor, to whom Mr Mestayer's report had been submitted, and that he did so. They had, of course, all available information and plans of the harbour and foreshore, but fancy expecting any poor man to pronounce authoritatively from flat bits of paper at a distance of 13,000 miles.

"They should have sent you a topographical map, showing all hills and inlets, according to scale," I said to Mr Bush. "A good man, with a map of Auckland, a pound or two of modelling clay, and a y scale-needle, would have turned out a model in a very short time, and then no one could have overlooked Orakei basin."

Mr. Bush admitted that this certainly would have been helpful, and that, from whatever cause arising, Orakei basin has been completely overlooked in dealing with the drainage scheme. I have the reports of Messrs Mestayer and Midgley Taylor, but have not yet had time to read them thoroughly.

It does seem to mc a very remarkable circumstance that so important a natural receptacle, and one 'which is practically in a line with the proposed sewer, should have been utterly ignored. The foundation of everything seems to have been Mr. Mestayer's report. Mr. Midgley Taylor then dealt with this, and Mr. Bush commented on the result. If the foundation of a house is lacking, it is of no avail to erect a sound superstructure.

Is the foundation lacking heTe?

This is a very, serious question which Auckland citizens must answer unless we want the City Council to add another bungle to the list. We must remember that this trifle is going to cost us, by estimate, £400,000, and that all City Council estimates are at least 25 per cent too low, so it only means a little item of half a million sterling. Quite a trifle to a progressive council!

I am showing on the. plan herewith, which is taken from the printed reports of Messrs. Mestayer and Midgley Taylor, as issued by the City Council, the proposed main or intercepting sewer, and .my proposed feviation. _£ g__va£,

studying this map it will appear -little short of marvellous how Orakei basin came to be overlooked.

Discussing my scheme with Mr. Bush he urged as some objection that he desired to have his ponds as near as possible to his outfall! This I agreed was a natural desire,\ but I contended that it was by no means' an essential point, and I put it thus' to him.

"You must have your ponds on the shore, and you would, if cost were no object, carry your outfall even into the Rangitoto channel, would you not?" To which he naturally replied in the affirmative. "Well, then," I replied, "Orakei basin is much nearer Okahu outfall than Orakei village, is to Rangitoto channel.

There will always be. a tremendously strong sentimental objection to having sewage tanks on our beautiful foreshore, and those who know anything know how sentiment will kill or make - a suburb. The effluvium from the sewhge is not the scent-i-meant, but each in its own way has a powerful influence on the fortunes ofe a district.

I have shown in Orakei basin quite a large area, say"7s to 100 acres as "Tanks." Tbe area proposed to be acquired at Orakei is 80 to 100 acres. The total area of Orakei basin, exclusive of Purewa and Orakei creeks, is 150 acres. My rough estimate. of the area likely to be required for storage ponds for Auckland sewage was from five to ten acres. Mr. Bush tells mc that he will not for quite a long time require more than three acres, but that if, in the" dim and misty future, septic tanks and filtration beds are wanted, they would Ahen fall back on the big block of land

Now does it not seem a pity to even think of putting a cubic yard of sewage on our foreshore when we have a mudbasin positively screaming out to the sewer to come in and use it; and if we only want three...acres of land at present, why not get it in Orakei basin, without annoying anyone, and if we should decide that we must have 80 or 100 acres of land for septic tanks some day—when our gre_t-great-grandchildren are dead —let us establish an option on the mud-flat in the Orakei basin.

I followed with, great interest Mr. Bush's very kind and lucid explanation of ibis interesting _oast experilnents. The diagrams bear out my remarks as to the necessity for carrying the outfall well out to the main current. Two ot the diagrams show the very strong current that runs parallel with the shore, and which I referred to in my last article. In most cases the floats, which were affected by the wind, evinced an affection for Rangitoto, but as the prevailing wind was south-west, this was but aatttral,

I do not approve of the manner iv which " float experiments "' are carried out., I hope my readers will pardon the tone of this remark. I am already feeling quite "expert." If I am experimenting in? anything I always try to reproduce as nearly as may be the actual conditions. If a thing is wortdoing at all, it is worth doing well. A punt-load of yellow clay, a mixer, and a long i?on pipe would give indications infinitely truer than model sailing boats. •If the liquified clay, or some chemical diseolourant, were run into the harbour some feet deep, and the track of the discolouration followed, the observer would get a much more accurate idea of the actual result of the tide on the effluent from the sewer, both as regards drift and "breaking-down," or dilution' than years of so-called float experiments will give. If necessary to renew the

•' trail," the discolouration of the water could, of course, be followed, and when required replenished. I am beginning to think that I have adduced almost enough argument to satisfy anyone that either Mr. Midgley Taylor or myself should be asked to go over the ground.and really think about the scheme!

The Auckland City Council is frying to do just a little too much in quite a burry. Unless it "gangs warily" in this matter it will have a big fall. Unless Mr. Midgley Taylor is brought out to inspect the harour and adjoining districts, a complete model of tho country tapped by tie proposed sewer, and also of the rim rounding district—not forgetting Orakei Basin, this time — should at once be made and forwarded to Wm.

Writing is good when one knows how to do it. Plans and drawings give point to writing, but if one really wants a person, layman or expert, to grasp the full significance of anything, there is no< tiling like atmospheric displacement. That is why I had a model of the Auckland Flat Iron made. That's why if Mahomet cannot come to the mountain, or rather, if we won't pay Mahomet to do so, we should send the mountain, or the Basin; —or a small counterfeit presentment thereof to Mahomet.

I should like "to express my appreciation of the great courtesy that I have received from the Mayor (Mr. A, M. Myers), the Town Clerk, Mr. Wilson; the City Engineer, Mr. Busb (whom, on account of my absence from Auckland, I have only recently met) ; and from many of the City Councillors. It is quite an error to imagine that because one is a keen critic of municipal matters, that tne relations existing between one and the city fathers must nscgssatilE. h_ £!_&. la- yerj

I far from the truth, and I am pleased to be able to say that I have had no case in which my actions have been resented by councillors or other civic functionaries. It is pleasant to be able to say this after the few little things 1 ,have dealt with during the last six months. Of course, nobody imagines that the City Council enjoys these proceedings as much as others do, and that is not perhaps to be won; dered- at, for there can be little doubt that lately municipal proposals, and the way in which things are "'altered " and " financed," leave much to be desired. There is too much predpit-, ancy in the work of this council, and personally I have no hesitation whatever in saying that I blame the Mayor (Mr. A. M. Myers) for a lot of it. The Auckland City Council is squandering large sums of money in a way that is no 'credit to it. I am not objecting to the City Council spending our money freely, but I do object to the shocking waste that goes on. The City Council cannot call mc to the bar of the house, for this, but I shall not take refuge, behind that. I will attend at any council meeting, and make good my statements should the Council think I ought to—but I don't think it will.

It will be seen that the proposed in. tercepting sewer runs practically alongside Orakei Basin, so that the city can save all the expense and annoyance of taking the Maoris' land away from them, and outraging public sentiment by merely turning the sewer aside a few yards; also it must be remembered that the cost of constructing" the tank would probably be much less than -at the Maori settlement.,.

In the meantime may I again venture to suggest that it would be *r;- oe to prevent this Orakei Basin idea becoming as firmly fixed in the public mind as is the phrase, " The Plat Iron," because in this case probably the effect will be different. s.