BOROUGH WATER SUPPLY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 80, 4 March 1929, Page 8

BOROUGH WATER SUPPLY.

If Palmerston North is to retain its position among the leading tow ns of the Dominion it is essential that its municipal services shall be adequate to meet the requirements of its people. In all except the supply of water, it may be conceded on broad lines, the town is very well equipped. It i... for this reason that we deem it most necessary to bring before the ratepayers chiefly tne position obtaining in certain parts of the town to-day. In these areas are residents whose unfortunate lot it is to be without water for. varying periods of the day during the summer months, when others are enjoying the free and unrestricted use of hoses for their gardens. And among the chief sufferers is the Hospital. It was most regrettable that Cr Eliott’s motion providing for a loan of J-36,500 to improve the water service should have' lapsed for want of support at the last meeting of the council. By their action the council laid themselves open to a charge of apathy in this matter. We understand that the Mayor, at the council meeting to-night, will make a statement regarding the water supply,, and we would urge • him to make it plain that he will lay before the incoming council at the earliest possible moment plans for improving the reticulation of the borough together with a proposal to raise the necessary sum to meet the cost. It is too late for the present council to do this and if the Mayor, who fully realises the urgency of the need for improving the service on the higher levels, acts on these lines he will allay the feeling of unrest. But it is essential that the loan proposal, when placed before the ratepayers, shall not be jeopardised by other issues as has

been done in the past. A public meeting also could be called and a resolution passed in support of the necessary work which should not be of an extravagant nature, but to meet pressing needs and the borough’s requirements over a reasonable period of years. In reference to the latter suggestion the Chamber of Commerce could co-operate in a manner which would be of great benefit to the town.