The Waipawa Mail, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1928. WATER MAIN LOAN POLL.

Waipawa Mail, Volume L, Issue 1, 17 September 1928, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1928. WATER MAIN LOAN POLL.

The poll of the ratepayers to be taken on Wednesday next on the proposal to borrow the sum of £2OOO for the purpose of extending the water main system is one that affects the whole of the Borough, for two specific reasons. In the first place the extenson will afford protection against fire to many variable properties. To emphasise the importance of this it is necessary only to mention the fact that the main is to be carried along Waverley street, in which is situated the Rathbone Maternity Home, which is serving a very useful purpose to the community at large. It is highly essential that an institution of this kind should be amply safeguarded against a possible outbreak of fire, with its attendant risks to patients. In the second place, there is the matter of the proposed new school in Domain road to be considered. Despite the many delays which have occurred in regard to the erection of this building, we have good grounds

for belief that it will materialise in the course of next year. The necessity for an ample supply of water for such an institution, both for fire prevention purposes and for health reasons, need not be stressed. The point is too evident. If by any chance the loan proposal were defeated at Wednesday’s poll the Domain road extension would have to he made out of revenue, and this would mean a very substantial temporary increase in the general rate, as against only 30-100ths of Id in the £ on the proposed loan. But apart from the interest which the general ratepayer has in the two institutions named above, if must not he forgotten that the proposed extensions affect, directly a very large portion of the Borough. Besides the Waverley street and Domain road schemes it is proposed to make extensions in Mathews street, Bibby street, Melville street, Richmond Park, and Sedgwick. All the properties in these localities have , at present to depend on a very limited j service. The owners of these properties have for years been contributing their quota to the loan which gave the town the excellent water supply which it now enjoys, and it is only fair and reasonable that they in their turn should now be afforded the same privilege. We hope, therefore, that those ratepayers who desire to see the Borough retain its place in the vanguard of progress will on Wednesday next record their votes in favor of the loan proposal.