WHY DELAY?

Grey River Argus, 12 February 1926, Page 4

WHY DELAY?

A MENACE TO HEALTH. Breeze at Borough Council, j At last night's meeting there was ft-■ breeze at the Borough (’oiincil over lhe I removal of what the members <-eiierally agreed is a mernice the hcallh of the public, but as Io whether the ;u-tion in it moving which should be immediate or mediate there was a difference of I opinion. The ’ ccasion of th" .1 isuu-<i.m was a: letter from the Distri.t Public Trustee in regard to the drainage of the Tivoii sections, in Herbert Street. The letter stated that the Railway Department ■ [had been written to but had refused! to recognise any responsibility. They I had now communicated with the Pub- i lie Trustee, Wellington. and Were ' awaiting further instructions. The Mayor said he had seen Mr Sav-1 well, and he had prm list'd io expedite I

matters. (’r. Kitchingham said the people in 1 the vicinity c» uld not sleep on account ! of the noise of the frogs in the water, I The sections should be drained. , Ci*. Kent said it was a serious nmt- | ter. and had been going on for a bmg ! I while. lie moved that a week’s notice | be given tu the Public Trustee to have I the work done, ami that, if this failed, the work be d"Ue by the Council and I he properties charged'up with the cost I of same. Cr. O'Brien said the place was a disgrace. He was ashamed to puss the] houses nearby. They had passed resolutions re the drainage of these sec- | ions, and m illing had been done. The I state of the sections now was a menace ; ‘o the town. The work should be done ; forthwith. If the owners of the sec- I t ons were not prepared to do the work’ the Council should do it. It was. how-j ever. a|q»arent that the owners were not prepared to do the work, and there- : for the Council should put men on 1o morrow, and h.a\e the meiiac" removed, i Cr. Keiil said he would alter his motion to have the work done at once. There seemed to be a real danger of an epidemic breaking out while they . w a itud. Cr. Kitchingham said he would second the first motion moved bv Councillor Kent. They should wait for a re- ' plv. The legal aspect should be ascer- ' rained. The Council might be trespassing if the workmen went on the people s property. He thought it was early in December that the matter was first briiight up. They had promised Dr. Telford tu have the matter rectified. Cr. Harker said they should ii(|t rush into the matetr. Lt were better to wait for a reply. He moved that the Public Trustee’s reply be waited for. Cr. O'Brien seconded Cr. Kent’s amended resolution. He was surprised to hear Councillors were willing to prorrastinate on such a matter where the public health was at stake. The place was a danger spot. He had discussed ■he matter with the Chairman of the Works Committee, and they had agreed i that the work should be done at once, i They had been dealing with this matter for over two months now. According 1 to Cr. Kitchingham they had promised to have the work done early in December last. If such a plague spot were alongside some of the Councillors’ own houses they would be threatcne<l with writs of mandamus, and injunctions and I what not. Cr. Doogan said they should be care-1 ful what they were doing. Before such ' work was undertaken plans and specifi- I cations should be drawn up. so that they would know what they were doing. On being put to the vote the Mayor • declared the amendment lost on the Cr. Kent asked for a division. The division being taken, only C<’un•illors Kenl and O'Brien voted for - the amendment, wh <-h was declared lost. Cr. Kent: “Another victory for lhe , legal fraternity!” Cr. McGinley moved a further motion that a man be s«*nt up in 1 he morn- ■ ing to st*: if it were possible tn find and clear a draiiuige pipe, or to clear the drain if possible. Th s was seconded and carried unanimvusly. Cr. O Brien: “It is lhe hottest thing I've yet semi here. You have turned •low n our amendment, and have now ! carried a motion which means practi- ' rally the same thing.” -Cr. Doogan: “It dues net mean lite 1 same thing. You wanted to pul. a crowd of incii on.’ 1 ' Cr O’Brien: “The work might not take a couple of hours. Anyhow your attitude lets us know where we are.” The Mayor: “Order! I ve given the Councillors a good deal of latitude.” The incident then closed.