VALLEY WATER SUPPLY

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 21, 25 July 1927, Page 8

VALLEY WATER SUPPLY

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—As a property owner and a heavy; „ ratepayer, who for over twenty-five years . has lived and taken the greatest of interest in the Lower Hutt, permit ma ' through the columns of your paper to voice my protest against the proposals of ':'■ the above Bill. Firstly, I believe it is not " the business of the Hutt Borough to take \ ti up the liability of reforestation of the" ■• lands outside the borough. Our district is sufficiently large to require all our rates , and all our energies to continue the de» velopment taking place therein. The reforestation of bare hills in Aka-\| tarawa, Kaitoke, Wainui, and surrounding ' • districts may be a praiseworthy object, i£' it can be carried out successfully, and i£ '-'■ the danger of fire can be safely guarded > against, but it is work that should not be' • carried out by adjacent local bodies, most • o£ which, if not all, are staggering under- - a load of rates that, is getting near the-..,,' breaking point. The work is a national ■one, and one which should be carried out " and controlled by the Forestry Depart- ' ment. They have the knowledge and aji -■• expert staff trained in forestry. Why- ,'■'"' accept the offer of thousands of acres^bf bush, together with the liability of its • management and maintenance? Surely; the State is the proper authority to man* age the forests with their expert knowledge of forestry. The more searching is tha inquiry and investigation made on the matter, the greater the need for delay and , prevention of hasty legislation will be apparent. An inquiry into the. history'of '•'' the various timber mills'.that have start- •■• ed in the ■ areaß concerned will give' rate- ''.:. payers much food for thought; Most of - the milling timber within easy reach haa - . long since been milled. It will be found, ,

that more money has been lost by timber concerns than has ever been taken ." out of the district. The supposed danger of the bush being felled or milled is,so small gr non-existent that it need not be considered. The May Morn block pass- -"' ed over in your recent. article with a feiw;' ■■ ■words is a block that stands out as ona . in which a lot of money has been sunk. •.

The Hutt Borough has plenty of roortt for tree-planting within its boundaries. The .Hutt Park has been starved for funds

for many years past. Where better could money be spent or employment found for unemployed than in the Hutt Park ground? The need for shelter belts ahd planting o£ ornamental trees is apparent to anyone inspecting same:

The question of approving or condemn' ing the Water Bill is one on which the ratepayers should be consulted before be-

ing committed to a scheme that may bring disastrous and unnecessary financial results to them.

Let the State take up the options held ' by Mr. Strand, if it bo desires, and do the "' reforestation. If it is not good enough '*■ for them to touch it, it is certainly not good enough for ua, m ratepayers, to haya anything to do with it. The forest will, conserve as much water under State man- -

agement as if controlled by a Water Boafd, and their management is likely to be much more satisfactory.—l am, etc.,

H. ERNEST LEIGHTOX.