CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 24 March 1923, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

GREATER HAWERA

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —Please allow me a lew lines m your valuable paper to congratulate the Tawhiti ratepayers on deciding to' merge' into the borough. In the bor-; ough of Hawera, you will all agree,! we have the cleanest "and one of the most up-to-date boroughs in New Zea- j land. There is no doubt that the Hawera people are proud of their bor-! ough. i should say more than the Ta- i whiti ratepayers think of their sur-1 roun'dings. - ■ The conditions of streets,! footpaths, water channels, lighting, i etc., are in an awful condition, and the sooner something fs done the better. The sanitary conditions of this fastgrowing area are becoming more serious every year, and it is a wonder the Health Department has not made a move before this. We all know how essential it is to keep our boroughs and thickly populated areas clean and free from disease. . This cannot be done without the installation of w^ater and drainage, and I fail to see any chance of getting any consideration from the county council in this respect. I understand that there are a few of the ratepayers who do not fall in with the idea of joining up with the borough. Now, I fail to see their reasons. In the borough we have all conveniences, including the protection of an up-to-date fire brigade. In .the county we have not even clean streets, much less conveniences. The difference in rates is, for a six-roomed house and quarteracre section, only about £1 per .annum or a few shillings over. I remember when the Hawera Borough Council proposed getting a loan for the water supply in their borough many of the ratepayers were going to go and live at the beach—the rates were too high. -Now they growl because they have not enough. Now, Tawhiti, I trust you will all stick together and do your utmost to better the conditions under which you are living and join up with the borough straight away.-—I am. etc., RATEPAYER.