CITY COUNCIL’S TIPS

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23917, 8 April 1943, Page 4

CITY COUNCIL’S TIPS

Mayor’s Reply To “The Press” REPORT BY CITY ENGINEER A reply to an editorial article in “The Press” on Christchurch City Council rubbish tips was made yesterday by the Mayor (Mr E. H. Andrews), who said he resented it. At the same time, the Mayor made available a report he had just received from the City Engineer (Mr E. Somers) on the. Plynlimon road and Pannell avenue tips. Mr Somers said the Pannell avenue tip had been in “good condition at all times" and that as soon as complaints were received the council increased the covering on the Plynlimon road tip and began clearing up the remainder of the area on which the tip is situated. “I keenly resent the article in ‘The Press’ this morning,” said Mr Andrews. "It was a mean attack not only for what it said but more for what it left unsaid. The writer should know that in my earlier statements about satisfactory tips I expressly made it clear that I was referring to the regular tips (at Spreydon and Opawa), about which there have been no complaints, and on which there have been perfectly satisfactory reports. I also made it clear that I was ignorant that household rubbish was being dumped in either of the temporary tips, and I promised the 'Fendalton deputation that I would have immediate action taken to remedy any complaints. The City Engineer took immediate steps to carry out these promises as I detailed to the City Council on Monday. Surely I might have credit for a sense of fairness in admitting'that some blame was attachable to the City Council for tips to which I definitely did not previously refer. “As for the milk question, never did the City Council express complete satisfaction, as suggested by ‘The Press, but persistently pursued the offenders until at the present time improvement has taken place,” concluded Mr Andrews. Pannell Avenue Tip In the report, Mr Somers said statements about the fly nuisance and general lack of care at the Pannell avenue tip should be discounted very considerably. For example, one was to the effect that a dead cat had been on the site for a day or two, until a resident telephoned the Health Department. This apparently referred to some dead kittens which were thrown over the fence during a week-end and buried by the workmen first thing on the Monday morning. Statements about a plague of flies were in contrast to the statement of one of the oldest residents of the street, who said flies were no worse than in other years and that the mosquito pest had been greatly reduced. Mr Somers said the tip had been in good condition at all ti! Mr Somers said.the Plynlimon road tip was an old shingle pit in the Waimairi County which had been used for years as a general dump by many people. A small portion only was used by the council for household refuse and practically all the rest was let to a local resident who used it for a time for grazing animals. The portion used as a tip was looked after and inspected regularly, but the leased portion was admittedly to some extent ignored. No complaint about the tip was received until a deputation waited on the Mayor and an inspection was then made. Rather than take any chances with the thickness of the covering, instructions were given to increase it and a start was made to clean up the remainder of the area. The tenant was given notice of the termination of his lease so that this could be done properly. The cleaning up had been in progress since as men were available. There seemed no doubt that ■ there had been a plague of flies in the locality, said Mr Somers, but he suggested that, while rubbish on the council’s land might have been to some extent responsible, other causes had at least as much effect. General Procedure at Tips

Mr Somers also outlined the general procedure at rubbish tips. The three obvious troubles which might develop at tips were smell, rats, and flies. The Smell was controlled by covering with a minimum of six inches of soil. As the refuse rotted, heat was generated which would prevent rats lodging in the newly tipped refuse. Because straw and paper rotted slowly, the refuse was sprayed regularly throughout the day with ammoniacal liquor, the smell of which would keep rats away. Trouble with flies could be caused by flies coming in with the refuse, maggots coming in with the refuse, and breeding in the tip. Prevention of the first was almost impossible. The second was eliminated by the poisoning of flies with a spray of a sodium arsenite solution and the inability of flies to come through the soil covering. As for the third, flies would not go to a dump to breed if it were covered over properly. They preferred to lay their eggs in close contact with grass clippings or similar materials. If flies came from a tip in large numbers this would only be because of maggots already in the refuse developing into flies. That was possible only when they did not take the poisoning or the covering was not sufficiently thick.