Sewer cost to be shared

Press, 8 May 1982, Page 12

Sewer cost to be shared

A sewerage system for Taylors Mistake and a residential zone above Scarborough should be a priority, the Christchurch City Council’s town-planning committee has said. The Christchurch Drdinage Board has estimated the job to cost about $1 million, with additional running costs for two pumping stations. A system would serve only houses on private property and a recreation reserve. Baches on Crown land are still under an order which requires their removal by 1986.

Councillors said that new allotments and existing houses in the proposed scheme area should pay an equal connection fee of $4400 each to helo fund the system. Land values in the area were low now, said the city land surveyor, Mr A. C. Iversen, but could double if a sewer were available. Much of the land was not suitable for septic tanks, and some houses had chemical or electrical toilets. Sullage from houses - dishwater and bathwater — now went into watercourses and found its way to the cliffs or the beach.

At the beach itself, public toilets near sea level became badly overloaded, at many times during the summer. This sewage went into a septic tank system, with field tile drains in the sand. However, sewage had sometimes been evident on the.ground surface. The Drainage Board could not justify spending the money unless property owners who benefited from connections paid their fair share, he said. “It would be a great pity not to do anything we can to develop this area," said Cr Helen Garrett.