DRAINAGE OF CHRISTCHURCH AND SUBURBS.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 311, 11 June 1875, Page 3

DRAINAGE OF CHRISTCHURCH AND SUBURBS.

A committee appointed by the City Council and the chairmen of the various district Road Boards, mot Thursday morning at the Council Chambers, in conference, to discuss preliminary measures for instituting a means which would result in a general system of drainage being carried out for Christchurch and suburban districts. There were present—His Worship the Mayor (in the chair), Crs Bishop and Ick, and Messrs H. J, Tancred (Spreydon), H. J. Hall (Riccarton), J. T, Fisher (Heathcote), and B. G. Wright (Avon). The town clerk read the resolution passed by the City Council, appointing iho committee, after which the minutes of the meetng of the committe® were confirmed. A circular letter, embodying resolutions passed by the committee, and which had been forwarded to the chairmen of Road Boards, was then read. The Mayor said that the meeting had been called simply for the purpose of taking some preliminary steps under which action might be taken to drain Christchurch and the suburban districts. The question was a large one, would require much consideration and many meetings, and probably months would elapse before they had arrived at any satisfactory result. If the Road Boards had all agreed that something should be done in this direction, he then thought the present meeting might commence at once with the preliminaries. He believed that Cr Bishop had a resolution to propose of this nature, and he would ask that gentleman to read it, Or Bishop, after a few remarks, moved—- “ That owing to the rapidly increasing population in the environs of Christchurch, this meeting is of opinion that there is an urgent necessity for the adoption of a general system of drainage in those parts,” Mr H. J. Hall seconded the motion.

Mr Fisher would point out that the resolution did not include the city of Christchurch in the general system of drainage; and the second resolution arrived at by the committee instanced that Spreydon might wish to pass through Heathcote, and Riccarton through these two ; but Christchurch was altogether left out, and no such contingency was referred to so far as the city was concerned. He felt that an urgent necessity existed for establishing an independent Board, with full powers, as it was evident that without such a Board existed no permanent good could be effected, as the Road Boards did hot possess the power of borrowing money; and in any scheme of drainage contemplated, Christchurch should not to be left out of it. It had been said that, when he had moved for a vote of £20,000 in the House, he had not consulted the City Council. Why he had moved that resolution was, that a motion for an endowment had been lost, and as the session was nearly closed, he felt that if he could obtain a vote for £20,000 to assist those who rated themselves so heavily, it should be done at once; though he had said at the time that that amount would not cover the expense of completing a system of drainage, but would simply be a grant-in-aid towards that object. He had no desire whatever to ignore the City Council. Mr Tancred moved as an amendment —«That it is desirable that the whole of the tract of land affected by the natural fall into the estuary should be formed into a district under drainage commissioners.” He should have mentioned that since receiving the circular he had not been able to call a meeting of his Board. Mr Wright seconded the amendment, as he felt ratepayers would not be prepared for such a step as placing the suburbs under the control of Christchurch in any way, not being sufficiently impressed with the success of the works already undertaken by them. In his opinion Road Boards should obtain powers that would at least be more acceptable to them to borrow money for large drainage works, than the propositions of the committee, and so far as the Avon district was concerned, being so completely severed by the river, it was altogether independent of Christchurch.’ So far as placing the suburbs under the control of the city for drainage, the same objections would apply as to the first proposal. The scheme of drainage initiated by the Council had to a great extent been a failure, and the primary cause of the present meeting. If the suburbs organised a Drainage Board for themselves, they would have to meet the difficulty of the city of Christchurch being placed in the very centre, and any scheme carried out by such an authority would of necessity be less complete than one which would embrace the whole watershed, including Christchurch. To meet the difficulty he considered that an independent Drainage Board should be formed, to be composed of members to be partly elected by the city and partly by the suburbs, proportionately to the population, and to be elected for a term of years ; the Board to have full power of dealing with all questions of arterial drainage for sanitary purposes, with power to borrow money and levy rates to repay principal and interest. By united action more weight would be given to their representations and demands for assistance from the provincial funds, and they would be in a position to obtain better engineering advice than had hitherto been brought to bear on this subject. It must be patent to the meeting that an error had been made in closing the Ferry road drain, and had there been united action between the City and the Heathcote Road Boad it would doubtless have been made a covered drain for their joint benefit, and at very little more expense than the amount spent in litigation, and in the abortive attempt of draining the Gas Works road. One effect of closing that drain had jbeen to render the Ferry road more unhealthy than before, from the pools of green, stagnant water dammed back in nearly every paddock south of the drain. By a drainage board being appointed the ratepayers would be gainers, in spite of increased rates, by the decrease in doctor’s bills and general feeling of discomfort, besides making the place more attractive to wealthy residents, who would otherwise remove to healthier towns. A drainage board, with extended powers, would look at the whole subject from a broader view, and would be in a better position to carry out an elaborate scheme adapted not merely to the present day, but also for any population that might be located here for thirty, forty, or even fifty years to come, and every length of arterial drain or sewer constructed by them would then form part of a Complete and perfect system, without the risk of wasting large sums of money on works that are proved to be insufficient almost as soon as completed. After some remarks from Cr Ick, Messrs Tancred, Fisher, Hall, and Wright,

The Mayor said that the City Council occupied a different position to the Hoad Boards, who had principally to provide for the drainage of storm water, while the Council had to take away not only storm water, but a large quantity of slops, excreta, &c. Some years ago he was in favor of an underground system of drainage, but he found that the citv could not find interest and sinking fund to pay off so large an expense as would, have to be incurred. As the next best system, Mr Bray’s plan had been adopted, and so far had been found to act admirably. Mr Wright had spoken without sufficient knowledge, when he said that the drainage works of the city had been a failure. For some time past a wrong impression had prevailed with regard to the feelings of the City Council towards the suburbs, and jealousy, and harder words, had been used. For two years past one of the papers had been writing down the Council, when the fact was that they (the Council) had not had the money to expend in the work of drainage as they would have desired. Only last year it was found that the accumulation of foetid matter in the South belt drain was the cause of fever, and a laige amount of sickness, and the Council had found it necessary to erect a sewer there, but their funds would not admit of their constructing one of a size that would assist in the drainage of the Spreydon district. Had they been able to do so, and the drain large enough, there would not have been that accumulation of water in the south-east portion of the city. The Council had always been opposed to the closing up of the Ferry road drain, and against their wish were drawn into an action, as from the earliest days it was seen that this drain would always be necessary for carrying off the storm water. If the residents in Phillipstown were allowed to throw their slops out at their back doors, and no provision made for the removal of the night soilit must result in fever, and he felt that this matter should have the closest attention of the Road Board. One result of the efforts of the Council was, that it was a well-known fact that the centre of the city was more healthy than the suburbs. The City Council would be only too glad if they could join with the Boards in establishing a general system of drainage, but while they were placed in their present financial position, they ought not to be called selfish for acting as their circumstances had compelled them to. Those who read up drainage would have seen that, in the Home towns, injunctions were being obtained to prevent the people from draining into the rivers, and the general effort to keep the latter purified, and he believed that, in a little while, they would not be allowed to drain, sewage matter into the Avon. He thought it would be a good course to pursue, for the Government to purchase the outfall drain for the drainage of all the districts, and would join heartily in any movement to have a Drainage Board elected on the basis of population. Cr Bishop said that his resolution only affirmed the necessity for a general system of drainage being adopted, though he was glad to see that two chairmen of Road Boards had each a scheme, though somewhat different to the other, [No. 1 The city of Christchurch had instituted a system of drainage with most successful results, and he felt that there was sufficient engineering skill to perform any future works it might be desired to carry out. Mr Tancred said that most of the drainage must pass through the town, as it was lower than some of the suburbs, and therefore the city must be included in any system of drainage. He could hardly understand that an idea that this should not be so, should emanate from the City Council, but would have not been so surprised if expressed by a Road Board. The resolution did not include Christchurch, and any system of drainage must thereby be [neutralized. As had been said, unless they were united much good would not result. The divisions in the country were artificial, and what they wanted was to include the whole area of the natural outfall of the country. The matter of expense might be relatively considered, and the expenditure by the City Council was only a matter of detail. The city ought to take credit for the money that had been expended in this direction. The outfall drain would not drain all the districts. After the burdens had been equalized they could then be adjusted proportionately. Mr Wright said if they were going to have the drainage done effectually they must have one Board, which would override both the City Council and Road Boards. Or Bishop asked and obtained permission to withdraw his resolution, and the amendment, which was not withdrawn, became the substantive motion.

Or Ick said that they had not sufficiently considered the subject, and to enable them to mature their ideas he would move as an amendment —“ That this meeting stands adjourned until a day to be named by the Mayor.” Cr Bishop seconded the amendment. On being put, the amendment was lost, and Mr fancred’s resolution declared to be carried. Mr Tancred moved—“ That in the opinion of this meeting hiq Honor the Superintend' dent should be requested to promote legislation for the purpose of creating an elective body of commissioners, to be charged with the drainage of Christchurch and the surrounding country, and for defining the area to be placed under their jurisdiction. The motion was seconded by Mr Wright. Cr Bishop wished it to be perfectly understood that he was opposed to any commission being placed over the works of the city, as the Council were quite competent to manage these works. Cr Ick cordially endorsed what had fallen from Cr Bishop. Mr Wright could not see the force of r the objections, as the same people who elected the Councillors and members of Road Boards would also elect the members of the Drainage Board. The Mayor agreed with Crs Bishop and Ick that the Council were quite competent to carry out their own works, but he wished to take a broader view, and sooner than the question of drainage should be allowed to remain in the same state as at present he would support the resolution. The motion was put and carried, Cr Bishop expressing a wish that his “No” might be recorded. On the motion of Mr Fisher, seconded bj Mr Hall, it was resolved —“ That the towc clerk forward a copy of the resolutions to his Honor the Superintendent, with a request that he will lay them before the Provincial Council.” It was left with his Worship to call the next meeting, and this concluded the business.