WATER AND SEWERAGE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 140, 16 June 1913, Page 2

WATER AND SEWERAGE.

£to the editor.]

—Permit me space to refer to puy ->rtant matter, and Ido so this imp*. -^ tkat I may assist ratewith the hopv. ■+ flr understanding of payers to a beu^ -varently, several the, position. Ap^. <«ehejh© ha ire biased opponents of the . *■ • .to cangone to considerable trouble '-^oajgh vass the town, and either th. - n . lack of knowledge, or with the *. tention of wilfully deceiving people, have succeeded, in very much exaggerating tho cost in the minds of ratepayer and of thoroughly nusre-pt-JXW the position. .%«W° ■will admit that there f,^lo^, the scheme; but I think the advantages are such that they greatly outwejgh any disadvantages there may be Fair criticism can only result .m good; but for the opponents of the scheme to gain their ends by wilful misrepresentation is neither ' honest bop" manly, and is difficult to fight against. I can only hope that ratepayers, will give the whole matter thought, and not be misled by these misguided individuals to whom a few shillings a year are of mbre consequence than the health and comfort of the community. The advantages of the scheme are self-evident, so CQjnment is hardly necessary; but tlfere are one or two points which I %otiici life© ratepayers more thoroughly' to understand. The main objection to the Whole matter appears to bo on the ge&re of cost, and the Wav in which this has been exaggerated shows how busy some people have jfeen. It is simple for anyone to know exactly what their rates will h& by inquiring from the Town Clerk; or they can calculate it for themselves. The sewerage rate will be 1 4-5 din the pound on the unimproved value; therefore if your section, -without buildings or improvements, is worth £50. you pay fifty times 1 4-sd—a total of 7s 6d; if your section is worth £70, your rates are 10s 6d, if worth £100, the rates are 15s, and so on. That will be the total annual amount of. your sewerage rates. Water rates are raised on a different basis, being ' 5 per cent on the annual letting value of your property, house and all. The annual letting value of a property is 6 per cent, on its total value; therefore, if your house and land together are worth £200, the annual letting value at 6 per cent is £12, and on this £12 your rates are levied at the rate of 5 per cent. (Is in the pound)—equal to 12s per year. If your property is ■worth £300,-the annual letting value is £18, and your water rates, there-fore-18s. In fact, your water rates amount to 6s for, every hundred pounds' worth of property you own. The full sewerage rate is collected from everyone in the Borough whether they are connected with the main or not; but the full water rate is only collected from those who are connected, those not connected being responsible for only half rates, unless they are over 100 yards from a mam, in which case they pay no ' waterrates whatever. Warehouses and stores, and, of course, unbuilt-upon lands, also only pay half rates. I have endeavored to put this plainly, and I hope it will be understood. The only really valid objection to the whole scheme is the cost of connecting houses with the main, and there is no doubt that in certain cases ratepayers will suffer a hardship on this score; but the Council can, and" will, offer every possible assistance in necessary cases, and I am sure that, once installed, --the cost would never be regretted. The average cost of connecting is generally expected as likely to cost from £15 to £25, and it is distinctly unfair for anyone to introduce a charge for this work based on the price of another town, where the conditions, are absolutely different from those in Blenheim. One other point is with regard to the pressure of the water in cases of fire; and I will only say that, under the pumping scheme, there will be a pressure in any par^t of the Borough almost equal to that at present only available in the centre of the town. Another objection, of which one hears a good deal, is that only 18 miles of mains are to be laid, and therefore a great many houses will not be connected. As a matter of fact, there are 1131 buildings in the Borough, and of these 1045 are provided for. Those unprovided for number 86, 28 of which are in the Islington district, 11 inßiversdale, 11 in St. Andrew Street west, and 33 in other parts of the Borough; so that there are only about seven buildings in every hundred which will not be connected. At the public meeting to be held this evening) much other information will be placed before you by other Councillors, and I trust that it will be realised by ratepayers what a very great advantage the carrying out of twd»».gin » to FITHgi