GROWING SUBURB PETONE'S RENEWED ACTIVITY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 75, 30 March 1914, Page 10

GROWING SUBURB PETONE'S RENEWED ACTIVITY

AN OPTIMISTIC MAYOR I RETROSPECT AND FORECAST. i j At the preeenl stage of Pet one's hit,toi'y, it nuyht well bo said lhat Wellington's industrial suburb is about to enter into a period of renewed prosperity. To tin 1 casual observer this assertion may be questioned, but to those who 'know the real position of affairs tho outlook is bright. Perhaps the same may be said of all the other subtirL. around Wellington, but then Petone i^ totally different from its contemporaries, lb is only a suburb in name; in reality it is a thriving industrial town— the oMeet settlement in Port NkholßO'i. By this reason jUs growth moans moi'o to the province than many are avai 1 * of, aad its progress should be watched side by side with the progress of t.'i-.s cii.%. ! >lr. J. W. jM'Ewan, who ba» bct-a .Mayor of Petorw lor th>» past sevc^i yearn, was recently wailed upon by a Feet reporter, who was given son.o interesting facts and opinions on the papi, present, and future of tho tovvn, ' EAH.LY DIFFICULTIES. Wit'iout going fully into the history ot Petone, and in ordei* to illustrate what led up to its present position, Mr. M'Ewan related the difficulties experienced by the early governing Riitbon-t-y, the Petone Town Boiu-d. "On tutniag over the pages of i/lie minute- book of tiio old Petoiio Town Board," eaid Mr. iM'Evyan, "one gets an idea of the position of affaire prior to the era. of iprogress largely initiated by Mr. R. C. Kirk, who occupiied th-e position of Mayor for nine years. Difficulties with floods, drainage, imp wf eat ly "formed, streets, and sanitation at ere wntinu.iJly cropping up, 1 which at limes seemed to almost overwhelm Ike merilbprs of the gt>\eriiing authority, AVbo, naverfc^ekise, rHSohuely etuck to their M r oi'k, ami never aJtogetbeT lost thedr faith m ti> the iuttvx* of r,i» town," Continuing, Mr. M'Ewaa referred to t-!ie erection of the st-cpbsaik, which wivk had been done in order to prevent floods Teachmg the pettlemeni.. The stopbank, he remaj'ked, proved, the salvation of Prtone, and it waft doubtful •whether the- people would agree to dispense with it oow. The next important matter ta,ken up was that of surface and household drainage. This work ' wa*> done ab a cost of £13,000, and -while it vttui by ho means perfectly done, it, proved of considerable advantage to the town. Tbun followed the strect-tmprove-n:eiit scMme at a cost' of /J7OOO, while- a esnitaxjr eorvice, Avhich was of the most priiiiitive nature, was also adopted. As the Tasult ni theeo various municipal iuiprovements, which were mostly carried ort. frofji 18S8 to 1903 considerable progress was evidenced by the erection of a large number of houses, a. 'better class of shops, and an lncreaee in the rateable value' of the borough. During this time the principal industries of the town — Gear Company, Woollen Company, Railt/ay Workshops, etc. — made much headway, additions were made to the buildings and plant and the larger number of people bumg employed found l'sU>.ne a. desirable place to live- m. Many of theeo were, eaicl Mr. M'Ewan, now among tho more prosperous of the townspeople. SUCCESSFUL UNDERTAKINGS. ' Continuing, Mr. M'Ewan said : "For some years_ the Wellington Gas Company heW the right of supplying the district with gas. As a result of negotiations i by the council iv office^ in 1900 the company's rights were extinguished and the borough acquired a ten years' lease of the company's property at a cost of £4000, Fetone now determined to have gasworks of its own, and the work of erectmg the buildings AVas undertaken ?.t a cost of £9000. Then thp talked about a water supply, which had been under consideration for sotre years. This did not take a definite shape until Mr. Smithies, then engineer, brought down reports upon the Belmont Stream as a source of supply and also the Koro Koto Stream, the latter of which was adopted." A FIVE YEARS' BOOM. From 1902 to 1907, said Mr. M'Swao, Petone made great headway ; the industmes gained a firmer hold nad tha municipal improvements assisted materially in helping along the town. Pr.rir>g that .time" the water works were completed, while considerable improvements were made to the gasworks, which had proved _ a success from the start, i?rom that time onward it was generally felt that the town had a. big'iutizxe. bofoft? it. From time to time the local council considered various imprnvemeDt schemes, the most notable of which was the erection of municipal buildings at 'a cost of £7000, and Petone's "whitp elephant," the wharf. ' HEOENT YEARS. In recent "years the progressive policy irdtiaied by Mr. Kirk had been'maintaiocd. The Petone Recreation Ground, which was valued at. £25,000 was acquired at the price agreed' upon, &4QCS') ; the Technical, School was' built on a sko provided; by, the council; the gasworks were _ practically rebuilt and wers now contributing £600 per "annnm to the general fund of the borough. The Water supply, wae being bo largely made uss ot that the council was compelled to con-sider-the question of minimising th« use made, especially for garden purposes. ' air. M'liwau also referred t>> the erection of tlie new fire station .and additions to the plant, the bridge across the Hutt River, ahd the eastcn drainagescheme, which was carried out undfj tho direction of Mi. \V\ Cook three jears ago. . „ MOVEMENTS AKGAD. Coming down to the present day, it*. M'Kwau first touched upon the scaWerage echeme, which wus commenced houip, nine months ago. This, he said, bad been one of thp planks of his piatforx'.. at the 1914 • Mayoral election, and tho result was that, ihe proposal was. agreed to. The work, he addpd, would lie coiEDleted in about two yeaa's' t'nic. E^:gardtng tlip future Air. M'Gwirn Bind ■ "The ratepayers will shortly bs asked, to, vote upon the question of initiating a motor 'dus service for which a loan of £4000 will be inquired and also Uio s»a front improvemprit srhpmp, at a cotl of £5000, The proposal to erect a boat harbour has been agreed to by tbts WpJlington. Ha> p bonr Board, while in l^gard to the wharf, the fact tliat better use has been made of thid convpTiipncfl duivng the past six months than in any previous period augurs • we'l. The council has determined to bring all coal required ior the gas work? nve ;- tlip what/ and the possibilities are that it will lpad to all the coal required for the district being obtained in the same way. !i> can be seen that from 1902 to 1907 the town progressed by leaps and bound**, and it would seem that a similar era of prosperity is about to begin, although from 1907 to now progress has been slow following on a period of activity, during that period the headway made was by no means bad. Afy anticipations of twelve months ago aie likely to be lealised. ' 'Additions were recently made, to the , Gear Company's Works, Woollen Mills, and Railway. Workshops, and at the present time there are no houses, suitable for habitation, to let "any of the unoccupied houses that have Oeeu neglected are beiog Repaired and

made fit for occupation. Almost every day people are making pnquhies for houses, and the demand for five and six-roomed dwellings is far greater than tTie supply. No doubt, with tho growing confidence in fclie future of the town, owners of land will find it to their advantage to erect suitable houses. The Government is making a move in the matter of disposing of land acquired for workers' , homes, the council having at its request agreed to construct an extPtision of William-street, through Milford Settlement to White's Line. 1 The establishment of Lever Utos.' soapworks will be a big adjunct to the town, while I understand that other industries will spring up in Petone in the ne.\t few years. Personally I have every laith in the future, and 1 am sure my confidence in shared by every propcrtyownor in Petone."