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Ashburton Guardian, Volume 1, Issue 120, 1 July 1880, Page 2

THE BOROUGH WATER SUPPLY. # AN EXPLANATION. The following letter has been addressed by Messrs. Saunders Bros, to his Worship the Mayor : Sir,—We gather from the report of the proceedings of your last night’s Council meeting that some surprise was expressed by Councillors and yourself at purport of our notice re water supply. To remove any misapprehension, we now have much pleasure in assuring you that not the slightest difficulty need arise in the completion of this matter. Our Mr. Edward Saunders was in a position to promise the supply as reported ; and tlie deputation appointed can servo no useful purpose beyond reassuring the minds of Councillors ; but we must insist upon the observance of the reasonable conditions attached to that promise. On the 30th March last we had the honor to submit for consideration of Councillors a. draft grant of easement, prepared by our solicitors, and it this had been approved of it would immediately have been completed on our side. The Borough Solicitor proposed amendments of which we could not approve; but we now 7 understand that he has since prepared another draft, which, without any reference to us, has been forwarded to Messrs. Garrick and Cowlishaw, and those gentlemen very pr-operly advise that they have received no instructions. We first learnt that the water had been taken from onr race, early on Saturday morning, and after inspection we gave your Council the notice already referred to, which, as Mr. Parkin aptly expresses it, was intended to avoid more serious complications. We then waited on the Borough Solicitor, and that gentleman, after exnressing indignant surprise n.t the rashness of his clients, referred us to the Borough Engineer. This officer explained that it was merely a trial of the inlet, and promised to at once stop the water until the necessary deed was completed. This assurance satisfied us until Sunday afternoon, whoa we learnt that a number of men had been employed on Saturday night actually assisting the flow, and on visiting the race we found that the Engineer had utterly ignored our protest and his own promise. In this position we were compelled to assort our ow'ii rights, and, as reported by the Engineer, w r e shut off the water. Owing to our Mr. Edw'ard Saunders’ absence, we wore unable to consult with him throughout this matteig but we are prepared and anxious to give effect to his known wishes. —We have, &c., Saunders Bros. Ashburton, 29th June, 1880.