ONSLOW WATER SUPPLY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1734, 26 April 1913, Page 3

ONSLOW WATER SUPPLY.

Sir,—Allow mo through, tho medium of your valuable journal to sound a very serious not© of vanning to tho ratepayers of the borough of Onslow in regard to the . poll to bo taken on the 30th instant to determine whether or not the people, or. perhaps I should say certain people, of Onslow are going to have what is more or less accurately described as a water supply. I will endeavour to deal with this very important question ns briefly as possible, but before attempting to put forward any argument either for or against tho proposal, I should liko to ask three questions. Firstly, how many of tho ratepayers of Onslow, who will go to the poll,' are in full possession of the facts of, or Jiny information abiut, this water scheme? Secondly, how many of thoso ppoplo know what expenditure of their money this scheme is going to involve? Thirdly, how many of I hose people know, and know beyond any reasonable doubt, that there is sufficient water in the stream to provide the necessary supply for the combined districts of Khanuallah and Ngaio ?

I venture to say that nine-tenths of the ratepayers of Onslow are not in possession of such facts, or information, and let me urge upon them the very importance of the necessity that they should know the full facts and unadulterated truth- of the proposed scheme, for . or against, which tliey; ar@ about to bo called upon to cast their vote. Let me also remind the ratepayers of their enormous responsibility, not only to themselves, but to the future welfare of their district in assuming the burden of such a gigantic undertaking on the mere presumption that the thing is going to be successful, and that it is only going to cost a certain sum, namely, the engineers estimate.-. I say that if the people are not satisfied beyond any possible doubt that their, money is going to bo spent with a reasonable degree of success, and that the amount •to bo so expended is within the .financial means of their district, they should give tho matter verycareful consideration indeed before .casting their vote in favour of the project Now, let' us consider for a moment the probable outlay that will require to be incurred to complete this, scheme. First of all, there will have to be erected a reservoir of considerable dimensions to provide for a. certain storage of water. Then there is the reticulation of the districts. As fir as these two very considerable items are concerned, I think our council will be quite safe in adding to any "estimate at least twenty-five per cent, over and above the cost of such works previously carried out round the city of Wellington, in view of the considerable increases of late in the cost of labour and materials. I take as'the basis of my argument in the matter of reticulation the area of the city of Wellington (I do not include Greater Wellington) and that o* our own district. Yofl will in all probability find that the area of Onslow is the greater of the two._ That being so, take the cost of reticulation incurred by the .Wellington City Council, where all the materials were on the spot, and it will enable you, by adding a reasonable amount for freight, cartage, etc., to, arrive at a very fair estimate as to the cost ,of such work in our own district. There is no doubt that'the safest tfay to arrive at a fair estimate is by comparison, and ■ making allowances for altered' conditions. 'Engineers' estimates are all very well"as far as they go, but you' will find that such an estimate is invariably the minimum cost for which a job can be (lone, and there is never auy allowance made for what is generally termed "extras." I 'therefore strongly advise the people to look upon the figures of such estimates wita a suspicion as to their accuracy. It may be put forward by some supporters of the scheme that it is not the intention of tho council to reticulate the whole of the district, but only a thereof. Then, and in such ease, it-is very unfair that the periifiahent residents ot the districts should be. burdened with the cost ot the provision of water for u few of the smallest ratepayers who have only just . arrived, are there to-day and may be gone to-morrow, and, 1 am informed, there are several who are continually agitating for' water, etc., for the express purpose of enhancing the value of their individual properties to enable them to. more readily dispose of the same. - ' - Now allow me to say a few words about a phase of the scheme that has never yet been considered, i'at all events from the ratepayers' point of view. As most peoplo should 'know, tho stream that it is proposed to utilise is of very small dimensions, and it will be necessary, to obtain any water at all, to construct the reservoir at n fairly low lever of the stream, and, I am informed, it is going to be erected a short distanco above the site on which the late Mr. C. B. Izard's residence once stood. If this is done, and it assuredly will have to be, it' will have the effeot of diminishing the pressure of supply. Now, I ask, what is the only remedy for a defect of this kind that will certainly deprive at least half the houses of Khandallah of> the supply.. I say the only remedy for this defect is a pumping ' plant and distributing basin which can only be provided at a verj considerable outlay. The former to force the ivater to the basin on some high level which will in turn supply tho houses. Also, the future requirements of the districts concerned have not received serious consideration. Even if there is sufficient water to supply the present needs of the combined districts, which I gravely doubt, there is certainly not sufficient to supply the Khandallah and Ngaio of ten or twenty years hence. What will be the inevitable result? Nothing less than the fact that thb whole system will become obsolete and another source of 9upply will have to be found, and which, I do not hesitate to say, will eventually have to bo secured from the Wellington City Council. Take as an instance of misjudgment in the matter of supply the Johnsonville waterworks, which, I am informed, is- a failure from that point of view. Apparently the Town Board rushed into the undertaking without having before it the absolutely essential evidence which is necessary to determine such a question. Is it not a fact that the Onslow Borough Council is just as liable, through not-having obtained sufficient reliable information as to the quantity of water available, and of the cost 1 of the undertaking, to force their ratepayers into an enormous expenditure .that before very long they will most heartily lament? I would like to impress on the ratepayers the fact that once thej; shoulder the burden of extra taxation it has' not to be borne for a day nor a year, but it will have to. be carried for all time, and •as all true friends of the borough are awaro the burden of taxation is not going to induco population to within its boundaries, but, on the contrary, will have the effect of driving people away. If the people of Onslow genuinely require a water supply, why do they not consider the' proposal of Mr. Holdsworth, the present Mayor (for I understand ,that gentleman was the originator of the idea) to negotiate with the City Council for the supply of water 'and merely have to provide a pumping station and distributing basin on one of the higher levels and avoid tho necessity of a reservoir ' with all its attendant drawbacks and expenses. We would then have something to loot' fonyard to with a reasonable degree of hope for success, whereas with the present schemo wo are dreading its failure. However, I appeal ,to the ratepayers that, beforo adopting either, scheme, to demand from their council tho fullest information respecting the same, and not rely on the estimate of ono or even two engineers, byt to obtain the opinions of several experts on such matters as to the likelihood of success or failure, and if such, expert opinions are withjp reasonable proximity of agreement, then, and not until then, will we be justified in taking this important stop. I am confident that the council would be wise in the long run if they were to expend a sum up to say .£SOO in procuring rcliablo expert opinions, and that their precautious action would bo endorsed by a majority of tho ratepayers, but I think we could obtain the soundest of information for a fee far below that sum. I contend that it would bo far letter to do this than expend thousands nf pounds with the risk of failure.

I may slate, in conclusion, that, it was intimated at a public meeting held 111 Kliandalloh on April 22 that it was the intention of the council to 'instil water meters with the system so as to limit the uso of water. Surely Ihis is n strong indication that' the supporters themselves do not believe t.bere is sufficient water to supply the tws*U oMh« dl>tilet, TEsro are »any othct niattcrj, such u

I compensation, etc., that I would like to mention if time and space only permitted, and I sincerely trust that tho ratepayers ivill exercise every precaution in voting at tlio poll on Wednesday next.— I am, etc., E.H. Khandnllah, April 2i, 1913. 1