FOR HEALTH'S SAKE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 130, 5 June 1925, Page 7

FOR HEALTH'S SAKE

A DAY'S BAY PROBLEM SUBURBAN SETTLEMENT WITH COUNTRY CONVENIENCES. (By "Safety First.") . A stranger visiting Day's Bay must be amazed to discover the backwardness of this seaside resort in the matter of modern health conveniences. That residents and property owners allow the present conditions to continue is accountable for only by the explanation that they have become so accustomed to the existing state of affairs that they fail to relise that the' time has come to make a change. If Day's Bay were attached to a. modern city its lack of conveniences would be deemed a public scandal. The Bay is, in fact, a residential Suburb ofWellington, not merely a week-end' and holiday'resort; but it is not a part of Wellington city for administrative purposes, and so its backwardness has been allowed to pass without comment. Atone lime there was no particular danger to be feared from the lack of water and drainage. There were few -pcnuSnent residents, and those few lived upon big sections. In summer time the population was increased by an invasion of holidaymakers, but this invasion lasted only a few weeks. Now there are few houses at the Bay that are not occupied all the year round or for the greater part of the year. Some of the.larger holdings have been subdivided and built upon, and the density of settlement aproaches closely to that of a- good-class suburb. But the health services remain the same as they were when tho Bay had mainly a holiday population. . TANKS AND RESERVOIRS. " The water supply is scarcely worthy of the name. There are (if the writer is correctly informed) two small public reservoirs and two privately owned and operated. But the supply is far from sufficient for the summer months, and it is not available to residents whose houses are even a trifling- distance above the flat. These must still depend upon tank water. Some, of them, after seeing the reservoirs from- which the public supply is drawn, say that they prefer the tanks. Drainage is even, more primitive. Kitchen sinks - drain into the open channels running beside the streets. Usually overflow from the reservoirs . serves to keep these channels flushed and fairly clean, but in summer the flow is not constant, and any observant passer-by can see the deposit in. the channels. From the channels the"water runs into the little streams which flow into the sea. Little children like to paddle in these streams on the beach front—until their parents hear about the' drains. . PRIMITIVE SANITATION.' . There is no public sanitary "■ service. Most of the larger houses have septic tanks, which are not- subject to public control or inspection unless complaint is made to the Health Department that a nuisance exists. There have* been one or two complaints, it is -understood, but the people who have jnad.o them have been deemed disagreeable and unneighbmirly— not.to say interfering. Now,: septicta,nks. are not perfect... contrivances; and., fool- - proof. Indeed, with improper usage they may. become little better than cesspits. A' isiiors have remarked upon occasions, particularly upon still evenings, that there is evidence that nil the septic tanks at Day's Bay are not in perfect working order. In any circumstances the system, while it may operate with perfect "safety where there is- one largo tank controlled Ijy a public authority, is -far from safe with, control by dozens of different persons, some without knowledge of proper use and some careless.. There is an added danger at Day's Bay from effluent o! the tanks, which may go out of order. Apart_froia the septic tanks, there is no provision for sanitation—no public night-, soil service—and this''in a place'which, is quits as closely settled as many parts of Lower Hutt, Karori, and Onsiow. Thedispooal is left to private enterprise, and if reports are correct some of the means adopted are far from hygienic' In short, Day's Bay is a beautiful suburb, a favourite residential locality, with sanitary provisions that are fit* only for a country township. . " : . A GOOD RATING AREA.. - Karori and Onsiow are now obtaining drainage and water, and provision is to be made for Seatoun Heights. Eastbourne has decided to make a move, and that will leave Day's Bay as the only near'suburb of any size which lacks the elementary services required in r. self-re-specting* community. At one .time it might have been pleaded that the valuations of Day's Bay were so low that the Hutt County, of wHich it forms a part, was absolved from the duty of. giving it special attention as a closely-settled portion of the county area. But this no longer holds. A revaluation has placed values on a level with some of the Weir lington suburbs. Rates struck upon these values are low, it is true, but the services given in return are not impressive. The streets in the Bay are not as good as those of'many of the Wellington suburbs, there arc no footpaths, drainage is primitive, and street lighting has only recently been raised above the standard of the dark ages. .' MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT.*,-. In discussing remedies, it is. not the intention to deal witli details. That is the business of the expert. On broad lines Day's Bay appears to have tho choice of three courses :—(1) To hivo off from the Hutt County and have its own Town Board, with authority to make provision for its own requirements, including drainage, water, sanitation, and street maintenance (including a share of the road round to the Bay);"( 2) to secure up-to-date water and sanitation in part-nei-.-liip with Eastbourne Borough; (3) to 'throw itself upon tho mercy of'the Wellington City Council, which, as owner of Williams Park, has an interest in i,he Bay. Whichever course is taken the Bay ratepayers must be prepared to pay, and the choice must depend upon "which course offers the best prospect of producuil: a satisfactory scheme with a .reasonable outlay. One thing is certain : that the present conditions cannot continue for long, and therp is no reason for 'continuance^ Nor is there any excuse. Wellington city engineers, it is understood, some time ago reviewed the possible sources of water supply and means of disposing of sewerage. Perhaps the report then mado could be found. To a layman there seems to be.no insuperable difficulty about the water. There are -numerous streams entering the Bay. which, together, should provide a pressure sufficient for' present and future needs. Even if pumpino- were necessary to supply the higher "levels there is electric power now for a pumping- station. Or if this supply is deemed inadequate, has not Eastbourne n proposalfor tunnelling through the hill to tap tho'Butterfly Stream? Or. acain, is it not possible to buy water from the Wellington City Council when tho new pipes .■ire In id? Sewerage should present fewer difficulties {him at Eastbourne, fince there is sufficient fall from all parts ol the Bay .to ensure a good working &ys'°m. But these arc details whicli ehould

bo left to the judgment of men who understand thefti. 1' The job for the residents and ratepayers is to obtain the best advice upon alternative schemes, and then decide which they will adopt. They will have to pay: but the removal of a. present menace will bo worth paying for, and the work, when done, will add considerably to the value of properties!