AWAITI WATER SUPPLY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5279, 25 May 1928, Page 2

AWAITI WATER SUPPLY.

PROPOSED AREA ENLARGED. DETAILS OF PROCEDURE. A deputation of Nethei’ton-Awaiti settlers waited upon the Hauraki Plains County Council on Wednesday in connection with the proposed watqr supply scheme.

Mr M. A. Carter urged the pushing on of the proposal, as quickly as possible. A further area of approximately 1090 acres was to be included in the area to be reticulated, making the total upwards of 5300 a.cres. A second petition in this new area had been signed, and those in the former area who had signed the original petition had all. signed' acceptance of the inclusion of the new district. Mr Dean explained the misunderstanding which had esuited in the original proposal not including the whole areia. With the exception of two settlers., who had; not been approached on account of absence, all the settlers in the defined district had agreed toj take the water. An area west of the. old Nether.ton-Pa.eroa, road was not included? in the area, but water could be sold to some of these settlers if it was found that there was ample supply available. Mr Carter pointed out that the size ,f the mains had ben kept down/ as much a;s possible to .lessen the cost, but it was not tholught that too great a reduction had been made. The committee had reduced the size of the mains recommended by the county en-

gineer. Mr Dean the settlers had agreed to take water provided thei cost did not exceed 2s 6d ,anl acre. Mr Carter said that the Minister for Public Works had been approached reference to a subsidy, and; the settlers did not desire- the proposal to be advanced until it was known what subsidy would be received. Officers of the, Agricultural Department had visited the district at the request of the Government, and bhe speaker said he was confident that they would report that th<?) water in the district was quite unsuitable, for stock. The cost to the settlers of 2s 6d an acre was based on the basis of a £4 for £1 subsidy. It was expected that a greater subsidy thap that obtained by the Hauraki Plains West water supply district would be received. The 'chairman said that from- the estimates prepared it .appeared that a ra.te. slightly over 2s 6d an acre would be required. In reply to Cr. Reid the chairman said that by making the loan for 20 years intsead of .15 years there was a margin of £lO on condition that settlers paid their wate,r, charges with the promptitude which they did not display in paying their rates. There were many factors .which might appear startling to the settlers if they were not acquainted with them. The project was a. water supply, .and the Water Supply Act! was the one under which the council wojuld have to act. It provided for the defining of the district, and it set out cei',ta.in conditions which, must be followed. A plan of the district had to be deposited in ■the; county office, and be open for inspection for a fortnight. 11l that period anyone cduld object to inclusion. The district was then to be constituted at a special meeting of the council. A month later the- special order could be confirmed by the; council. The next step was to submit the , particulars to the Local Government Loante Boa.rd, and the experience of the council had been that it toofc four, or five months for that body to finalise the matter. Having obtained this permission to proceed, a further plan showing the proposed scheme had to be deposited for 14 days, and any settler had the right to object to any pa,rt. The next step was to take a poll of ratepayers or proceed by petition, which would take at least five weeks. Before bhe poll could be taken a classification of the land had to be, nra.de for the; purpose of deciding the basis of payment to be given as security for the loan. There was an alternative by means of a flat rate. In any case there would be a delay of three weeks or a month. When the loan was carried the goods could be ordered. By cabling, the pipes could be landed in four months. The ques : - tion. of easements and rights.o|f-way could be carried on at the same time. The actual work could be done in two months, and if everything went quite smoothly the water would be available in, say, twelve months. Mr Carter said that it w.a,s undesirable to make the water available at the beginning of the winter and have the rates six months: earlier. It might be desirable to call meeting to discuss deferring the proposal for six months. . The chairman, advised against this, as the times- he had given were subject to everything going smoothly and

without delay. A delay, if thought' necessary, could be made in the rajs, ing of the loan after all other steps had been taken. After some d'sctission on the size, of the mains t'he engineer said that lie was not prepared to guarantee the engineering points of the settlers’ scheme • The mains proposed would all, deliver more water than the present demand, but as time went on the demand would increase and the pipeswoulcl corrode ; thus they would deliver less water —possibly less than was needed. The chairman said that the scheme wa s essentially a settlers’ propos;a,l determined on a bas's down to a cost of 2s 6d an acre. It was for the council, to say whether the proposal should proceed. The engineer said that recently he had gone into the question of the type of pump, and had decided in fa.vour of a turbine instead of a plunger pump on account of less likelihood of damage and lower running costs. In reply to a question Mr. Carter said that the committee had beqn authorised to proceed provided the cost did no}t exceed 2s 6d a ; n acre. As the cost as calculated by the Chairman on the engineer’s estimate was so slightly in excess of this, tihe committee was confident that they could proceed, as it had high hopes of getting a greater subsidy than that cal-

cuiated upon. Cr. Mayn wanted the engineer to give a definite statement as to the success of tlie scheme over a long period of years. He had guaranteed the scheme at present, but the speaker, wanted ,ii statement as to its success when encrustation of mains had taken place. Mr Carter pointed out that there was ample margin in the estimate of the qua.ntity of water required. Cr. Parfitt pointed out that the scheme could be guaranteed in all respects if the proposal, was approved by the Local Bodies Loans Board and by the Public .Works Department. Both bodies would have ;ajl aspects thoroughly investigated before authorising the lean or granting the subsidy. The chairman suggested that the council, should proceed with the con. stitution of the district. This would take some time, during which: the engineering aspects could be finalised. Cr. Hicks ;moved, and Cr. Harris seconded, that the? council take steps to ha.ve the Nethertoni-Awaiti Water Supply District constituted. —Carried. It was also decided that the details of the schema be further investigated.