DRAINAGE SCHEME

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25181, 19 April 1945, Page 6

DRAINAGE SCHEME

EARLY UNDERTAKINGS BROWN'S ISLAND PURCHASE Works to be undertaken by the newlyconstituted Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board were outlined in a number of reports presented by the engi-neer-secretary. Mr H. H.Watkins, to the second meeting of the board yesterday. These included several undertakings for which an order of procedure was necessary. , Mr Watkins said it had originally been intended that the .first instalment of the drainage scheme should provide for the diversion of the sewage flow from the Orakei outfall to Brown's Island. In recent years, however, the Department of Housing Construction had frequently urged that main drainage bo first provided for the Tamaki and Mount Wellington districts in which large-scale housing projects were contemplated. There now appeared to be some uncertainty as to when the department was likely to begin these .schemes. The main intercepting sewer to be constructed through the Tamaki arid Mount Wellington districts was designed to provide also for the boroughs of Onehunga, Otahuhu and Ellerfllifl, a portion of the borough of One Tree Hill, a portion of the Mount -Roskill Road district, the Papatoetoe town district, extensive portions of » Manukau county and for the disposal of trade wastes from the Penrose, Southdown and Westfield industrial districts. The whole of the sewage from Ellerslie was being temporarily pumped into the board's main intercepting sewer system. In determining an order of procedure these matters would have to be considered. The report was referred to the Works Committee. Mr Watkins said he had conferred with the secretary of the Local Government Loans Board on the question of raising a substantial loan for the purchase of Brown's Island, for preliminary expenses to cover survey's and the preparation of plans, for the treatment works and outfall at the island, and for.the main intercepting sewer system. The secretary had advised that this could be arranged on the understanding that detailed plans and estimates were submitted. The matter was referred to the Finance Committee. "RETROGRADE STEP" BOARD AMALGAMATION TRANSPORT CHAIRMAN'S VIEW "My board is convinced that the amalgamation of its undertaking is a retrograde step and it urges that in the interests of the travelling public of Auckland its present constitution should be allowed to stand," said Mr W. H. Nagle, chairman of the Auckland Transport Board, when ' presenting a statement to the Parliamentary Select Committee on local government yesterday. "At the previous sitting of the committee," continued Mr Nagle, "submissions were made on behalf of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee in favour of the setting up of a Greater Auckland Metropolitan Board to take over the functions of all the existing local bodies in the metropolitan area, including the ad hoc bodies. So far as my board is concerned it is unable to find any advantage which will accrue from adopting such proposals. On the contrary, it contends that such a step would be marked by a serious loss of efficiency which must react to the disadvantage of the travelling public of Auckland."

It had been said that at present there was an uneconomic and wasteful duplication of buildings, high officials, office staff, plant and equipment, said Mr Nagle, but as far as the transport board was concerned savings in such directions would be nil. It was even possible that amalgamation would be followed by an increase in costs. METROPOLITAN BOARD OPPOSITION TO SCHEME "The proposal to establish a Greater Auckland metropolitan board is not new, and such a scheme was seriously considered and abandoned in 1927," said Mr S. J. Harbutt, chairman of the Auckland Electric-Power Board, in a statement submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee on local body government yesterday. Dealing with the position solely from the Electric-Power Board's point of view, he continued, it must be emphasised that the board's operations were of a highly specialised character requiring trained personnel and necessitating material, plant and equipment designed for this particular purpose and quite unsuitable for use in general local body work. Further, all personnel, plant and equipment were fully utilised in the service of the board and could not be made available to any other organisation or for any other purpose. If a Greater Auckland metropolitan board were established, Mr Harbutt continued, the organisation must be immediately broken down to its component parts, thus resuming in effect the present form of administration, but with the great disadvantage that members would then be acting only as a committee without power to decide the many important issues involved.

It was submitted that before any action was taken to alter the present constitution a thorough examination of the whole problem should be undertaken by a special tribunal, which would then reouire to make a detailed investigation of the organisation of each ad hoc body to determine what advantages. if any, would accrue from a coordination of all such regional services. GIFT TO MUSEUM A gift of £2OO has been made to the Auckland Institute and Museum by Mr R. C. Horton, to be used for augmenting the mineral collection. The council expressed appreciation of the gift at a meeting yesterday.