PLYNLIMON ROAD DUMP

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23916, 7 April 1943, Page 4

PLYNLIMON ROAD DUMP

IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSION No steps would be omitted to improve emergency rubbish tips at Linwood and in plynlimon road, said the Maydr of Christchurch (Mr E. H. Andrews) at a meeting of the City Council on Monday evening. He was replying to complaints about flies and rats made on behalf of people in the vicinity of Plynlimon road by Cr. C. D. Sheppard. The Mayor said it would be difficult for the council to prevent the unauthorised tipping complained of. Cr. Sheppard described an inspection he had made of the tip on Saturday morning because of the anxiety of residents for the health of their children. He was not casting a reflection on any member of the council’s staff. Rubbish had been dumped in the area by unauthorised persons. Residents of the district had reason to complain about flies, and he had seen rats there. Some grass clippings had been dumped there and they had become a breeding ground for flies. Horses were kept on part of the area, and he thought they were closer than a chain to the nearest house, which would not be permitted by the City Council’s bylaws. There were a number of old tins on the area. They had water in them and were breeding places for mosquitoes. The tins should have been flattened out and buried. He said a Mrs Porterfield had had to leave her house because of the flies.

Cr. Sheppard said that, if the rubbish lying round were burned, the horses removed, and the dump worked in accordance with the procedure of controlled tipping, the chief reason for the complaints would disappear. He moved that action along these lines be taken by the works committee. Cr. G. D. Griffiths, in seconding, said he did not suggest that refuse left uncovered in the area was put there by the council, but it was the council’s land, and the council had a duty to keep it in order. The Mayor said there was no necessity for a motion, because the works committee was already taking steps to improve the position. However, it would do no harm. The horses would be removed, and the lease held by their owner had been cancelled. He was not prepared to say that some blame was not attachable to the council. He knew flies had been bad in that district, but there were other factors, and flies had been bad all over Fendalton and some other parts of Christchurch because of the season. The council had not put the grass clippings there; they must have been put there by someone in the neighbourhood. He would not be surprised if that person was one of those who had complained. The motion was carried.