NORTHCOTE SETTLEMENT

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17034, 7 May 1923, Page 1

NORTHCOTE SETTLEMENT

HOUSES SURROUNDED BY WATER. The drains at the Northcote Settlement, North Road, have been unable ; to cope with the abnormal amount of stormwater, and about half a dozen houses on the low-lying land were com pletely surrounded this morning. These houses are not all occupied. Fortunately the water did not invade any of the houses, though in one case the water was only about one inch and a half below the level ol the front doorstep. By 10.30 this morning the water had subsided somewhat, but the drains were still running bank to bank. “ This is over the odds,” said the occupier of one house. He put on a pair of gum boots in order to wade from the front door to the frnt gate co speak to a reporter. He said that he recognised that the rainfall had been abnormal, but he would not stay 't the settlement unless something wan done to improve the drainage. “ T bad to get up early this morning in order to rescue my chickens from a watery grave,” he added. The water was deeper at the back of the house than at the front, and the occupier gave a practical demonstration of this by wading round to the back. In some places the water was only an inch or two from the top of his gum boots. The occupier of another house that was completely surrounded by water had to use two chairs as steppingstones in order to get out to the front gate to go to his work this morning. Although none ot the houses have been flooded the water has in several cases got through the ventilators and under the houses. With the winter coming on, the prospects of the ground beneath the houses drying are not too good. Further, the stormwater lying round the houses lias put the sewers out of order, and this is a source • f great annoyance to the householders. The houses on the higher ground ir. the settlement are all right. In fact, the water from their property has drained down oil to that of their less fortunate neighbours. The only occupants of the flooded houses who seemed to be enjoying the experience were the children. There was no school for them to-day. This morning there was a narrow sheet of water right across the grounds O' St Bede’s College, which stands next to the settlement, and the lower portion of a paddock between the college grounds and the settlement was com pletely flooded. An old resident of Papanui Raid that the engineers who had taken the levels and arranged for the drainage of the settlement should visit the settlement now. They had probablv carried om their work in fine weather. Where the settlement stands lie had seen cows up to their bellies in water. Of course, the ground had been levelled to a certain extent, and he did not say that would happen" again, but houses should not ' have been erected on certain portions I of the settlement,