ALL NECESSARY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 40, 17 February 1937, Page 12

ALL NECESSARY

THE LOAN WORKS

WORKS COMMITTEE VIEW

SEWERAGE VITAL

Commenting upon the loan proposals which arc to be placed before ratepayers on February 24, Councillor Will Appleton, chairman of the works committee, stated that judging by newspaper correspondence most ratepayers were seized with the absolute necessity of tackling the drainage problem. The renewal of the drainage system was vital in the interests of the health of the city.

For the last two years, said Councillor Appleton, the works committee had been seriously disturbed by breaks which had occurred in the rising main which served that portion of the city from Thorndon to St. John's Church. In this particular area all of the sewage had to be pumped, and apart from the fact that this rising main is of insufficient capacity to take even the dry weather flow, the cast-iron pipes, which have now been down for something like thirty-nine years, have deteriorated to such an extent that in places portions of the pipes are almost the thickness of tissue paper. During recent months serious breaks have taken place in Manners Street and in Brandon Street, and although the position had been cleared up without serious inconvenience-to the public, it had to be remembered that for a time these streets were covered with sewage matter which is very serious from the point of view of public health. A renewal of the sewage system, particularly in the heart of the city, was really long overdue. SPREAD OVER SEVERAL YEARS. | Councillor Appleton pointed out that j the proposed expenditure of £200,000, while it represented a very considerable sum, would be spread over some years, and it could be considered that only something like £40,000 per annum would be called for over the period. It is needful, of course, to obtain authority for the full amount to make sure that the scheme will be completed, but the money will be raised as required, and the burden on ratepayers will not be so great as it would appear at first sight. Not only would the new system provide for current needs, but it would be adequate for at least another quarter of a century; Another point to be considered was that if there was a break in the existing rising main the whole system was thrown out of gear, whereas under the new proposals of the engineer's department, each unit would be more or less self-contained, so that if there was a serious earth disturbance due to an earthquake, the affected section could be readily cut oft Councillor Appleton emphasised that the proposals had received the utmost consideration on the part of the council after a most exhaustive report by the City Engineer and his assistant, and that the scheme had received the unanimous endorsement of the-coun-cil. He, therefore, had no • hesitation whatever in asking every ratepayer to vote for this scheme. NO WORK WITHOUT FUNDS. Coming to the question of the works schedule, which it must be admitted by any reasonable person was a very moderate request, said Councillor Appleton, the point to be remembered was that for some years past the I works committee had simply been J starved for lack of funds. In 1929 the works allocation was £91,600; the following year it was £85,085.

Due to the falling off in revenue, and the necessity for economy during the depression years, street works suffered more than any other branch of the city's activities, and in 3932 expenditure had to be curtailed to £56,933. In 1933 the pruning knife was further applied, and only £37,421 was expended. In the following year, 1934, £39,830 was allocated.

Under these circumstances it was inevitable that the roads and footpaths would seriously deteriorate, insufficient being available even for maintenance purposes. In 3935-36 the council, recognising the need for money for this department, raised the allocation to £70,895, but last yearthat is, for the period ending March 31, 1937 —the money available had to be cut down to £56,991, plus an allowance of £8117 for special works, of which £5800 was allocated for improvements in the vicinity cf the new railway station. The bu!k of this money had not yet been expanded, for the simple reason that owing to unavoidable delays in the construction of the building the City Council staff could not' go ahead with the work. KAPID ADVANCE OF CITY. During recent months, said Councillor Appleton, the works committee had visited practically every section of Wellington city and suburbs, so that the members could get a grip of the necessary works and be personally acquainted with future requirements. It was apparent to the committee that a considerable amount of work would have to be faced within the next few years. During the last decade in Wellington a greater amount of progress has been made than in any other city in the Dominion, and heavy expenditure will have to be made if the needs of citizens are to be met. In making their survey it was obvious to the committee that it was a physical impossibility to do a large number of major works which are essential out of revenue.

"The programme for £28,500, covering capital works in various parts of the city and suburbs, represents the minimum that is necessary at the present time." If the whole of the work was done and the total charge levied on rates, as has been suggested in some quarters, a considerable advance in rates would be needful, he continued. At meeting after meeting of the works committee there were deputations from citizens and from representative associations asking that certain works should be carried out. The stock reply was that nr money is available, and that was precisely the position. If ratepayers wanted those works there was only one way to get them, and that was to raise a loan and pay for them. "To give an illustration as to the position," said Councillor Appleton, "in framing last year's estimates in order to comply with the requests of the various ratepayers' associations and other people interested, it would have been necessary to provide for no less than £58,588 for special capital works The committee was only able to find £2317 out of revenue."

LIBRARIES, BEACHES, RESERVES

In respect to the other proposals, Councillor Appleton said that while he personally was voting for the propositions in regard to reserves and beaches and extension of libraries, these, after all, were matters for the individual citizen. The council had purposely split up the schedule of the loan proposals in such a way that the ratepayers could exercise their own discretion. Wellington was singularly well placed in regard to her beaches, but it must be obvious to everyone that with a growing population it was necessary in the interests of public health that every facility should be given to the residents and to the younger people in particular to enable

them to take advantage of nature' 9 bounty. Anyone who visited some of the suburban beaches on fine days would realise the need for better facilities, and while the centre of the city was pretty well catered : for, it must be admitted that the suburban districts were neglected.

The same remarks applied to the reserves. Councillor Appleton claimed that in these we had a wonderful asset which was not fully appreciated by Wellington citizens. It was usually a visitor who recognised what we had in our midst, and considering the topographical difficulties which we had to face it was amazing what had been done in recent years with the limited amount of money at command. Here again, if Wellington was not to go back, it would be necessary to find more money for capital expenditure.

As for libraries, sSid Councillor Appleton, there was probably no service in the community which was less1 costly to the inhabitants than the public libraries of the city, nor probably was there any activity which rendered such a splendid service from a cultural and educational point of view at such a low cost. The experience of the City Council had been that the branch libraries already existing had been actively supported wherever they had been opened. A large part of the annual cost was recouped in subscriptions, and each year the demand had grown for a greater number of books on the part of the'public, showing that the demand was there.