£1.2 MILLION LOAN FOR SEWERAGE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29001, 16 September 1959, Page 14

£1.2 MILLION LOAN FOR SEWERAGE

Big Increase In Rates To Result The Christchurch Drainage Board will seek from the Local Authorities Loans Board sanction to raise a loan of £1 million for sewer reticulation and a loan of £275,000 for collecting sewers. Telling the board last evening that loans amounting to £3.5 million would be needed for urgent work, Mr R. C. Neville, chairman of the construction committee, said that the loan charges would involve an extra £230,000 a year.

“That represents an increase of about 50 per cent, on our rating at present,” Mr Neville said. Mr A. J. Smith: That will be popular, won’t it. “Those who are crying out for relief of their sewerage and sullage disposal problems will be very happy to see it,” Mr Neville said. “That sets out the position squarely?’ He said that loans already authorised amounted to £1.605<n —£620,000 for major works, £BOO,OOO for the treatment works and £185.000 balance of a reticulation loan. Early action was proposed on:— Major Works: Collecting sewers for the more urgent stage II reticulation, £275,000. Treatment Works: Additional loan estimated to finance the balance of the work, £200,000. Reticulation: Balance required to cover remainder of stage I reticulation, £150,000; stage II (first nine priorities) £1,000,000. Land Drainage: Initial loan £200,000. Engineer’s Estimate Mr H. F. Page, the chief engineer (operations), recalled in his report that of the 19 areas still to be reticulated it had been hoped that possibly seven or eight might be included in a stage II loan of £500,000. After taking out the approximate chainage involved, it was apparent that to reticulate the first four areas of Peerswick, Hoon Hay, Windsor and Blenheim road would more than absorb the suggested £500,000. He said that no detailed planning had been done to fix sizes and depths in much of the areas, but an estimate showed:— Peerswick Area.— 215 chains at £2OO, £43,000; Hoon Hay, 1000 chains at £280,000; two pumping stations and rising mains, £30,000; Windsor area, 150 chains at £3OO. £45,000; Blenheim road area, 394 chains at £225, £89,000; Fifield terrace sewer for Housing Division, £2500; Wairakei road sewer for Housing Division, £24,000; Marine parade extension, South Brighton, £3300; supervision and contingencies, £30,000; a total of £546,800. In addition, the first two items on the list of collecting sewers required reticulation—Sparks road from Milton street and Fairview street to Cashmere road—were required to provide outfalls from Hoon Hay. They should proceed at the same time as the reticulation in order to avoid any delay in servicing the area. It was intended that those and other outfalls should be the subject of another major works loan, but because of the urgency of the work, Mr Page recommended that a sum of £45.000 should be included in the reticulation work to cover the cost of about 90 chains of the outfalls.

The committee proposed to the board that in addition to the work outlined by Mr Page, the scope of the loan should be widened to include the first half of the list of priorities suggested by the engineer in July, As a result, collecting sewers listed by Mr E. F. Scott, the chief engineer (planning) would have to be

added to provide the North road collecting sewer. The board approved the committee’s recommendation for an application for a loan to reticulate the following areas: Peerswick, Hoon Hay, Windsor, Blenheim road, Bexley, Lower Sock-bum-Yaldhurst, Avondale, Northcote, Heathcote Valley, Fifield terrace, Wairakei road, Marine parade extension. Collection Sewers

Mr Scott’s report said that at the same time as the stage II reticulation loan was being considered there were two collecting sewers which had a special priority. They were the Sawyers Arms road-Harewood road collecting sewer and the Ham road collecting sewer from Wairakei road to Memorial avenue. The estimated costs of the lines were £120,000 and £53,000 respectively.

A Yaldhurst collecting sewer up Watts road could well be included in a major works loan, the estimated cost being £30,000, he said. If the three lines were combined with the Hoon Hay outfalls there would need to be a loan of £275,000, and it was essential that if it was agreed to it should be raised at the same time as the reticulation loan.