MOUNT EDEN DRAINAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22498, 15 August 1936, Page 14

MOUNT EDEN DRAINAGE

LARGE SCHEME COMPLETED LAYING OF LAST PIPE To mark tho conclusion after many years of a comprehensive scheme of drainage for the Mount Eden borough a ceremony was held at Landscape Road yesterday. In the yresonce of the Mayor, Mr. T. McNab, and most of the councillors, a former Mayor, Mr. ft. H. Potter, laid tho final pipe in tho scheme. Mr. Potter was asked to do so in recognition of tho fact that it was during his term of office in 1923 that the undertaking was first vigorously taken in hand.

The work of completely draining the borough has been in progress since 1914, and it has entailed an expenditure of more than £454,000. The outbreak of the war delayed its prosecution for a number of years. The ratepayers refused to sanction a £95,000 loan for it in 1931, but the council obtained" authority from the Government to raise the necessary amount. With the aid of the Government subsidy of .'3ss weekly to every man employed from June, 1934, and by efficient management the cost was kept below £60,000. The subsidy totalled £19,334. Over 50 miles of pipes havo been laid, much of the distance through solid rock. The pipes have varied in size from 4in. to the 7ft. main serving the southern area and leading from Balmoral Koad through Edendale and Mount Albert to Meoia Greek. The number of men employed has averaged about 100, all drawn from the ranks of the unemployed in the borough. Many of them have worked off overdue rates in this manner.