FOXTON WATER SUPPLY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 858, 28 June 1910, Page 3

FOXTON WATER SUPPLY.

MAYOR GARDENER INTERVIEWED.

We clip the following iuten from the Levin Chronicle ; “ The decision of the P'oxl Borough Council not to take supply of water from Levin h;caused some comment in this district, as the proposal seemed a fair one to both parties, and one likely to prove advantageous to the Foxcou district. A representative of the Chronicle interviewed Mr B. R. Gardener (the Mayor of Levin) on the subject on Friday, and, in reply to questions, his Worship said that he was very much surprised at the decision of the Foxton Council. In his opinion that body had miscalculated the figures. When the charge of 6d per thousand gallons was suggested by the Levin Borough Council it was not anticipated that Foxton would take anything like the supply that body now said it would take. According to Foxton figures and according to the Municipal Handbook the population of Foxton was something like 1400 persons. The borough area was very much larger than that of Levin, and no one could anticipate that the whole borough would be reticulated so as to allow the whole of the houses to be provided with water or sewerage connections. According to the estimates placed before the Council by the Mayor and Town Clerk it was apparent that they had based their calculations upon the whole of their population being supplied with water, and therefore they brought their first year’s supply up to 27,000,000 gallons. The Levin Council was of the opinion that even if half the town of Foxton were connected that it was as much as could be expected for some years to come. When the Levin Council took the charges into consideration it only thought that Foxton would be like itself, and that it would be some years before a drainage scheme would follow the water supply. It was admitted that with a drainage scheme the quantity of water used per head of the population varied from forty to fifty gallons per day. But without a drainage scheme at the very utmost one could not base his calculations beyond twenty gallons a day per head of the population. With these facts before it, the Council was of opinion that it would be many, many years before Foxton could get up to a supply of 20,000,000 gallons per year. As a matter of fact, the Mayor continued, the utmost capacity that Foxton would be able to utilise, according to the engineer’s report, allowing for the population to increase to 3000, would not exceed 68,000,000 gallons even at the end of a period of thirty-one years. This was allowing for a drainage scheme. In his opinion there was ample justification for a further conference on the matter of the charges. No one could gainsay the fact that the present water supply at Levin was an excellent one, and possibly the purest one that Foxton could obtain. If Levin was able to assist a neighbouring borough it had no rigtt to be unfair in its charges ; nor did Levin wish to be unfair. The wish of his Council was that both bodies should mutually benefit. It should not be forgotten that if Foxton got her 27,000,000 gallons annually the Levin Council would have to proceed at once with the erection of extra tanks, which would cost £2OOO. He (.the Mayor) was perfectly sure that the supply which Foxton estimated it required for immediate use was a long way over estimated. He noticed when reading the report of the Council proceedings, that one of the Foxton councillors remarked that he thought Levin had a good thing on in connection with supplying the railway station at gd per one thousand gallons. As a matter of fact the charge of gd was a perfectly reasonable one. In almost every other instance the charge made was from is to is 6d. Therefore it would be seen that Levin’s charge to the Railway Department was a very reasonable one. The Mayor went on to say he had obtained information from Wellington, Dunedin, and New Plymouth, and also other places as to what their charges were for supplying adjoining boroughs with water, and the charges were as high as a shilling, and in no case less than 6d. In conclusion Mr Gardener said that his own personal view was that it was a great pity a conference of the two bodies as suggested by the Mayor of Foxton and himself could not be held. If such a conference were arranged, he believed a better understanding as to the wants of Foxton could be obtained, and that a satisfactory and permanent agreement to both bodies could be come to. He hoped the matter would not be allowed to die a natural death, and expressed the hope that the question would be revived at a later stage. He would be quite willing to attend any meeting in Foxton if it would help to put the matter in a clearer light than appeared to be the case to-day. Levin had without doubt a supply of water which would be able to last both boroughs for the next hundred years.”