Who Should Pay For Pump To Alleviate Allandale Flooding?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 56, 16 June 1948, Page 5

Who Should Pay For Pump To Alleviate Allandale Flooding?

A Borough Council proposal that residents in the Douglas Street area'should contribute £125 to the cost of a stormwater pump on property between Douglas Street and Salonika Street near the Wainui Te Whara stream, caused a deputation of objectors to such a charge to wait on the Council on Monday night. Their representations were referred to the works committee for further consideration.

Leader of the deputation, Mr B. SEvans, said he and others who lived in the same locality thought they /should not be asked to put up the money for the pump, which they agreed was a good idea, for these :reasons: First, they considered most of the flooding in the Douglas Street area due to the inadequate system of Borough drainage. Further, they thought it the duty of the Council to instal a pumping system at its own expense to get rid of its own .stormwater, rather than to ask a few to contribute £125 for that purpose. Moreover, they thought there was little chance of getting the 51 per •cent of ratepayer support necessary :for a special rating area because the sufferers were actually a minority. Finally, those affected felt that if the Council had not the funds to do the work properly it should increase the rates to enable it to do the job. “Not Fair To Criticise” Cr H. G. Warren said it was not fair to criticise the Council and al.lege inefficiency against it. He pointed out that the Council had .spent £SOO on drainage in that area quite recently, and appealed to members of the deputation to try to realise the Borough’s difficulties, particularly in handling recent flood •damage. He did not consider it unfair to ask those who were to benefit to contribute to the cost of the proposed plant. Cr W. Sullivan said he thought dhe deputation did not seem to be aware of what the Council had in mind. A pump to serve the inner area between Douglas Street and Salonika Street would give remarkable service to that area, and he thought the residents there should be prepared to contribute to it. Cost Of Flood Control He said that, on the recent estimates of Public Works engineers,

re-afforestation of the headwaters of the Wai-iwi and Wainui-Te-Whara streams and their control would cost £35,000. It would cost about £3,000 in work on the Maraetotara Gorge without piping at about £SBO. If that work were done it would be of immense assistance to the whole of the Allandale area. Mr Evans asked if the Council had a legal right to “drop water on anybody’s property.” He claimed they should drain it to a natural water course. He said he had had a legal opinion on it and found they could not. Two Possible Sites Cr Sullivan pointed out to the deputation that there were two possible sites for the proposed pump, one on the road at the Douglas Street Bridge to deal with Borough water only, and the other in the back lands near the stream and on Mr F. Prideaux’s property. The latter would give the settlers drainage from their properties and a practical immunity from flooding for which he considered it quite fair to ask them to pay. If the pump went on the road site, it would handle Borough water only, and the Borough would no doubt handle the cost. Action Wanted—Not Sympathy Cr J. Creeke pointed out that water must naturally run to the lowest level. But the installation of pumps in all low level properties was a matter the Council could not consider without very careful thought. It must be wary of creating any such precedent. He asked them to realise the Council was not unsympathetic towards the sufferers. The leader of the deputation said, they didn’t want sympathy. They wanted the Council to keep its water off their sections.