SEWERAGE IN RAVENSBOURNE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23500, 14 May 1938, Page 24

SEWERAGE IN RAVENSBOURNE

I'O THE EDITOR Sir,—May I be permitted to make a contribution through your columns which may be of interest to your readers and more particularly to those residing within the Borough of West Harbour? As one who has taken his part in advocating a sewerage scheme for Ravcnsbourne, I wish to affirm that the figures which are contained in a circular received by all householders throughout this borough, and signed by his Worship the Mayor, are very misleading and show that whoever drafted them either did not know his subject or was intent on misleading the public. I shall, for the purpose of this discussion, accept the figure of £22,000 as the capital cost of a sewerage scheme. The item of £6OOO, being the cost of connections, is an individual responsibility, and therefore cannot be calculated as a public liability. The position then is that we have to allow for interest and a sinking fund, together with an estimated amount for maintenance renewals and repairs. I am prepared to accept the rate of interest quoted (3J per cent.l as well as the item of £IOO for maintenance, etc. The amount of 2£ per cent, as a sinking fund is, in my opinion, to~ high for work of this description, and as evidence of this I should like to point out that the great bulk of the materials that would be used are of a particularly durable character. This question could only be settled by a competent engineer, and as a layman I shall not labour the point at this stage. I am accepting the figure of £3OO for houses pro tern. To put the figures relating to the financial aspect of our proposed sewerage scheme in their proper perspective, I consider they should read as follows;—Capital cost. £22,000; interest at 3J per cent., £770; sinking fund allowance at H per cent.. £275; maintenance. etc., £100; total annual payments. £1145. A division of this total by 300 gives us a figure of £3 9s Bd, which Is much less than the figure of £8 given by the Mayor. The above is not all of the picture by -my means. I now propose to show, with the Mayor’s figures again as a basis, that the annual charges should be considerably less —spread over, say, 10 vears —than half the figure of £3 9s 8d per householder, for the following reasons:—The G wernment is prepared to advance by way of subsidy £4 per man per week for approved works to any local governing body. Now on the assumption that £II.OOO of the cost is represented by payments for labour, then the bulk of half the cost of the proposed scheme would be provided by subsidy. I have assessed the amount of subsidy at £9OOO There is another aspect of the matter which, I consider, should be taken into account, and that is the possibility of an Increase in building activity. In this connection. I maintain that our buildings would surely increase in number by 100 per cent in five years. With these two latter points in view. I wish to submit another set of figures; Capita l cost of scheme, £22,000; less amount of subsidy, £9000—£13,000; interest at 3J per cent, and sinking fund at per cent, on £13,000, £162 10s Dividing this total by 300. we get a liability per householder of £2 7s lOd per annum. Let us now look at the position as it would be should there be an increase in our number of residences due to the addition of such important amenities as drainage and sewerage to our other attractions Suppose that our houses increased as suggested by some of my friends, by 100 per cent, in five years. At the end of five years the financial position of our proposed scheme would be as follows (I am

again giving on pel householder basis)Estimated cost per annum, £2 7s lOd when the number is 300. It follows that, if this number were increased to 600, the last-mentioned sum would be reduced to £1 3s lid, plus a sum which it would be necessary to add for provision to extend connections, etc., and this figure I have taken as 20 per cent, of £1 3s lid, which I make £1 10s 7d. My estimate calculated as above is that each householder would pay something like £1 10s per year. I write this, Sir, as a layman with no professional knowledge. I am sub-mitting-the circular referred to by me. I am, etc., T. L. Stewart. Ravensbourne, May 13.