ACTION DEMANDED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 297, 14 December 1940, Page 13

ACTION DEMANDED.

LAKE PUPUKE WATER. t i i DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S MOVE, j Action to provide "an adequate and satisfactory supply of wholesome water'' for the North Shore boroughs was demanded by the Director-General of Health, Dr. M. H. Watt. in a letter [9 received by the North Shore Water Board at a meeting yesterday afternoon. Dr. Watt said: "The condition of the I water J>pl v - of 111 n Xorth Shore boroughs for many years has ;»iven great concern to this Department. ;ik well as to the inhabitants of the board s district. In spite of the strain on the Lake Pupuko supply and the marked lowering of the level of the lake, nothing practical has lie en done to augment the supply, the result being that the lake is at, the lowest level experienced during European settlement." Much of the criticism of the present condition of the supply was justified jcontinued Dr. Watt, but this did not i necessarily mean that the watei must be condemned as a source of supply. It. had "never been given a fair trial." Given adequate facilities for treatment, there was no reason why the lake, supplemented by water from the Upper Wairau Valley, should not l>c made (Siiie and palatable. The chairman. Mr. H. F. W. Meikle. moved that the board agree to the principle adopted bv its advisers, Messrs. Vickerman and Ward, for the augmentation of the lake supply from tlie Wairau Valley. Needs of Large Population. Opposing the resolution, Mr. .T. Guiniven, of Takapuna, said the Wairau scheme offered no permanent solution, and would mean a. waste of the rate- 3 payers' money. The hoard should have j in view the time when all the East Coast I bays would be populous and the North rj Shore boroughs would all be closely | settled. They should co-operate with | the Auckland City Council in planning jj a supply for \he whole of Greater Aiuk- 9 land, possibly from the Waikato. The | experts had not tested the Wairau I watershed and no adequate tests coiilrl I b« made over a shorter period than three I years. "I hope this short-sighted policy i will not be adopted," he i-aid. F Mr. E. Aldridge said the lake had been I given a full trial and the people were I disgusted with the water. He moved 5 as an amendment that a referendum be j taken over the whole of the four bor- ! ouglis to determine the desirability of the Wairau scheme. Mr. C. H. M. Wills, supporting the amendment, said the Wairau scheme, even if desirable, could not be brought into operation in less than three years, and before then the districts mipbt l>c swept by a serious epidemic. Water could be obtained from the city in six months. Chairman's Motion Carried. Mr. E. G. Fowler (Northcotel said the lake water was unusable as it was to-day, but it could be treated, and would be treated. Because it had not been treated it had never been given a fair trial. When the vote on the amendment was taken Messrs. Wills, Guiniven and Aldridge objected to Mr. J. Friekett, of Birkenhead, voting, as that borough was obtaining water from the city, and was therefore not directly affected. Mr. Prickett replied that the needs of the future made it essential that Birkcnheftd should have an additional supply in view. The amendment was lost, and the chairman's motion carried. Mr. L. J. Poff, Commissioner of Crown Lands for North Auckland, Government member on the board, refrained from voting on the amendment, but supported the motion. Those opposing it protested agaijiSt Mr. Poff's action in voting, as the Government was not involved financially in the questions at issue.