LOAN PROPOSALS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 141, 12 December 1923, Page 9

LOAN PROPOSALS

FOR LOWER HUTT

DRAINAGE, ROADS, AND FIRE PREVENTION

EXPLAINED TO RATEPAYERS.

Proposals to borrow the sum of £42,000, for borough improvements were placed before the Lower Hutt rater payers at a meeting held in the St. James Schoolroom last evening. The Mayor, Mr. W. T. Strand, said the present council was pledged to go into the matter of the cost and methods of improvements to the borough, and the job had been more arduous than was expected.. The details had been gone into most carefuly by the committees, of the council, the chairman of which would put the proposals before the meeting. The proposals had the unanimous support of the council, and were necessary for the progress of tha borough. There would be an increase in the rates, and the council was not going to try to hide that fact, but to tell exactly what the increase would bj, and show the improvements that would be effected. SANITARY SERVICE INADEQUATE. ■ . Mr. L. T. Watkins. chairman of the Health Committee, said it was proposed to'raise £10,245 for the completion of the sanitary, drainage, and storm water drains of the borough; and £1000 for loans to ratepayers to assist them to' connect up with the sewage system. The scheme would, with the exception of some .small districts which should be specially rated for the service, give a complete and up-to-date system for the whole borough. Future land subdivisions would be drained at the cost of the land owners. The scheme allowed for the more efficient working of the septic tanks, and for the installing of automatic electrically driven pumps, A confidential report in regard to the sanitary service had alarmed him when he joined the council. To-day the position had been much improved, but the service was still'quite inadequate', and but of date, and the Health would, he was sure, not let the state of affairs continue. i . .

The present method of pumping the sewags by hydraulic poweiwas wasteful and inefficient, as it took three gallons of water to- pump two gallons of sewage. This meant, if the pumps were kept going 24 hours per day, the cost would be £1000 per annum. At present, in addition to the cost of the water used by the pumps, the cost of maintaining the septic tanks was £557 "s 3d ; by. installing automatic "electri-cally-driven pumps the cost could be reduced, according to actual working figures obtained by him in Christuhurch, to £80. Assuming that these costs were almost doubled, this would mean a saving of £400, while at least one-third of the water now pumped at a cost of £985 12s 4d would be saved. In addition to this the charge for sanitary removals costing £119 10s 4d would be reduced by £40. The annual cost of the new equipment would be £600. PERMANENT ROADS. '.Mr.- A. J. Hobbs, chairman of the ■Works Committee, said that it had been for/many 'years'past the desire of the council to.lay down the portion of Hutt road through the borough with a permanent surface, ? During the last ten years- the, traffic had increased at least sevenfold,; and this ' work ' was now an urgent one:. , Not only would the road be improved for traffic, but the dust nuisance would be solved. 'The examPle of cities in America and the City of Wellington in going in for bitumen roads was quoted, and as the Hutt River could, according to the American expert, supply the best shingle in the world, the. borough was fortunate. The cost °f lr ,the road from Wakefield street (White s Line) to Park avenue would be £8015, with £200 additional for raising the man holes, and £200 for regradinc. .The plant would cost only £395, which gave a total of £9310. Then it was proposed to set back certain streets and build two. culverts which would bring the sum to £11.330. Footpaths would cost £9945, with an additional sum of £80 for a tar storage tank. This money would be spent on 62 out of the 90 streets in the borough. Interest on the Mam road loan would be £750, and the road was at present costing £700 annually. . SAVINGS ON LOANS. Mr. Strand said the increase in the sewage mains would mean that the water mains also would have to be extended at a. cost of £2769. It was also pro. posed to erect a. footway on the south side of the main bridge, and to erect ladies rest rooms. The former was necessary for the safety of the public, and he was sure no one would obiect to the latter work. (Applause.) He was not going to hide the fact that No. 1 loan (embracing the proposals already mentioned), was going to mean- an increase in rates, but the council's estimate of the rate, he considered, erred on the liberal side. The estimated say. ings this loan would mean to the borough would be £1948, but it was safe policy to allow £200 a year for contingencies, which would reduce the saving to £1748. Allowing foi saving this amount, there would still be a deficiency of £742, .which would mean a rate of Is Hid in every £100 of unimproved value. Several questions were asked and satisfactorily answered. FIRE PREVENTION. Councillor H. G. Teagle, chairman of the Water Works Committee, outlined the proposals for increased fire prevention facilities which had, he said, the cordial approval of the Fire Underwriters' Association. The present 3in mains were barely sufficient for the present domestic supply, and it was proposed k> Teplace the whole with 4in. mains, except in one or two small streets. It was proposed to erect an up-to-date fire station at a cost of £2500, and instal a modern fire engine at a cost of £1200 The total amount of the loan for r'eticu- - Innj,°^station>^station> and eng"ie would be £29,629, and the extra rate for this would be about 3d in the £. Against the rise in the rate must- be placed a saving to be effected on fire insurance premiums. The Fire Underwriters' Association had promised, if these works were carried out, to reduce the rates by 15 per cent., which would mean a saving to owners of property of £1400 This question, however, should not be viewed from a financial point of- view but from the point of view of the safety of the borough. , J AIDING THE PLUNKET SOCIETY. Councillor D. A. Niven placed before the meeting the claims of the Plunket Society's room. The fine work done by the society was mentioned. Visits to the rooms totalled 1310; '1159 visits had been made by mothers with babies and the nurse had made 907 visits to the homes of the people. (Applause.) The Plunket Society of New Zealand had re duced the infantile death rate in New Zealand till it was now the lowest in the world. (Applause.) Better accommodation waa urgently needod mid it was proposed to build rooms on. the

recently acquired land in Fraser street to accommodate the Plunket Society and the Dental Clinic. The cost of the building would be £2300, and the interset on this amount £180 per year. Even if the whole of this had to be found it would only be 23-400 din the £, but it was expected to raise the whole of the money needed by voluntary gifts (applause). The sum of £1000 was already practically in sight. If £1000 only was raised by loan, the cost would be only £100 per annum, and the two institutions would not object to pay this as a rental; so whatever happened no change in rates would be made. Councillor A. M'Bain pressed the need for proper housing of the Dental Clinic, and said the school committees would not mind finding £50 per annum as rent for the Tooms. Councillor E. W. Hunt briefly reviewed the , whole of the loans, impressing on the audience the need for a better fire prevention system, and eulogising the present volunteer fire brigade. He made a special appeal for the Plunket Society. , In regard to the recent loan for the purchase of property on the Main road, the Mayor said that the last block of buildings had been sold, and the council had been entirely reimbursed for the amount of loan, and had an extremely valuable property left. On the motion of Mr. H. E. Leighton a cordial vote of thanks was passed to the Mayor and councillors for the trouble they had taken.