STEADY PROGRESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 21, 25 January 1940, Page 6

STEADY PROGRESS

UPPER HUTT AREA

EXTENSION OF RAILWAY

Advice that the Eastern Hutt railway line is being extended to Taita and later to Silverstream, and that an adequate main sewer is being constructed as far as Taita, was given recently to members of the Upper Hutt Borpugh Council by the Mayor, Mr. J. Blewman. Mr. Blewman said that in the very near future the line now terminating at Waterloo would be put through to Taita and then to Silverstream. "It is as much as we as a body can do to get the conveniences of the .lower part of the valley extended to Upper Hutt," said Mr. Blewman during the course of an interview. "The Town Planner has in his possession a plan of the whole valley, showing future development in this area. "There are two things which are most important to the residents of the upper part of the valley. One of these is the speeding up and electrification of the line to Upper Hutt; the other is the provision of an adequate sewerage system. Upper Hutt is almost entirely a residential area, and many citizens of the district journey daily to and from their, employment. "An hour in the train each way is too long to ask anyone to spend in going to arfd from work, especially when by special trains the journey is regularlyv.done in forty minutes. The presenceVof a large military camp in the district.greatly increases the need for speedy access and efficient sanita/tiori." -.. :'' ,', . • ■ ~ ■. MAIN TRUNK SEWER; > In connection with the extension of the mairj, trurik sewer to the district, the council has received a letter from the" ilon; H. T. Armstrong, Minister of Housirig.'.'■'. ' . t . "tit 'reply to your specific inquiry," states ?tae letter, "I have to inform you that^up to.the present no decision has been?^ade to continue the sewer to the tlp'per "Hutt borough. My Department, however, has arranged that the lower portion of the sewer at present iinder construction shall be sufficientlygrgat in capacity to deal with all foul sewage likely to be handled from the upper portion of the Hutt Valley, including Upper Hutt, in the'next fifty-to a hundred years. 1 "You will appreciate that for the purposes of my Department it will not be necessary for a considerable time to extend the= sewer beyond Taita, but if the. Upper Hutt borough is desirous of connecting its area to the sewer, and if satisfactory financial arrangements can be arrived at with the borough, the] no doubt the Government would give consideration to the question of carrying'out an extension of; the sewer. "I suggest, therefore, that as a preliminary step representatives of your council should confer with the Director of Housing Construction." A deputation has been arranged by • the council on the lines of the suggestion. ■-• . BUILDING ACTIVITY. 1 Much. activity in the building of dwellings is reported by the borough inspector, Mr! C. H. Yarnell. This is especially notable in dwellings constructed for the Government Housing Department. In addition to 26 in course of construction on the Pine Averlue, there are three in Tawai Street, and 16 in Palmer Crescent, Heretaunga. In all cases drainage, is being installed, and all drains are" tested for later connection to-the proposed borough sewerage scheme. ' The, water supply is now being treated at the reservoir, and it is confidently anticipated that there will be no: repetition of last year's unpleasant ' taste of the water. Copper sulphate is; being distributed evenly over the area of the reservoir by means of a " flat-bottomed boat which has been constructed for the purpose. The Upper Hutt borough section of x the Lower Hutt-Upper Hutt main highway is' to be taken over as a State highway by the Main Highways Board /as from April 1, and will be maintained by the board from kerb to kerb. Mr. B. M. Wilmshurst, the Town Clerk, reported at a recent meeting of the council that the financial position of the borough, as revealed by the receipts and expenditure accounts, was the best in the borough's history.