WHAKA SEWERAGE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 405, 14 December 1932, Page 5

WHAKA SEWERAGE

THE LOAN POLLS MAYOR ADDRESSES SMALL - ' MEETING OF TOWN RATEPAYERS PROPOSALS EXPLAINED Another phase in the proposal to take two polls for the raising of a loan to provide sewerage for Whakarewarewa was reached last night when the Mayor, Mr. T. Jaclcson, addressed a -small meeting in the Lyric Theatre. The chair was occupied by the de-puty-rhayoiV Mr. George Urqulhart, ,and in view of the smalln!ess of the meeting the Mayor made his address, more or less, a conversational explanation of the proposals, illustrating the differenee between the two proposals- — the one affeeting the Native pa itself, and th® other emhracing the outer area. The aetual figures dealing with the estimated cost of these schemes were dealt with at length in the Mayor'-s meeting at Whaka last month. The portion which particularly aff'ected the horough as a whole was the reticulation of the pa. The area proposed to be reticulated outside the pa, said the Mayor, would be constituted -a speciad r.a.ting area for which the ratepayers in that locality would be rated, but the cost of £1100 necessary for the reticulation of the native village would be an interest charge upon the whole horough, insomuch that it was not possible to pledge the native lands. as security for the rate. Health of Community Dealing with the general welfare and health of the town the Mayor held that it was essential that something should be done tq improve the sanitation of that locality. It was only possible by constant vigilance to ward off disastrous results. It might. of course, be possible, by a continuance of this vigilance to ward off trouble, but it would be a serious thing, indeed, if an outbreak of typhoid oecurred. In placing proposals before the ratepayers the council was confident that the work could be made a sound economic proposition. At no other time could the work be done so cheaply. The Native Department had undertaken to provide £900 toward the cost of providing sewerage for the pa and at such a time when the Government was 'economising it was no small • achievement to get such a contribution. The Unemployment Board had approved of the scheme as a relief work and it would be paid for by the board. It would therefore he seen that the borough was getting considerable assistance in carrying out the scheme. There would never again be the possibility of carrying out the work as cheaply as now. Borough's Share The proportion which the horough would have to find would be £1100 secured by a rate of .014d, which would mean ls 2d in the £1000 of capital value — -not by ,any means a heavy rate to secure the health of the borough. But actually it would not cost the borough anything more than at present because the existing night soil removal from the pa cost approxi- ' mately as much as would the interest on the loan. In hard faets the loan would cost £80 7s a year, and the nightsoil removal cost between £70 and £80 a year. That was the only financial part which actually affected the ratepayers of the borough. So far as the special area outside the pa was coneerned, he said, the cost of the loan would be 4s 8d in the £ of capital value, or £2 7s 2d in the £1000 of capital value. If the ratepayers in that locality agreed to the loan he was convinced they would find it a sound investment. But it must he ramembered that these figures were the maximum, and when the scheme came into op'eration they might be less. Dangers of Typhoid Ilowever, he urged them to consider the proposal from the health point of view and realise. what the absence from disease meant to Rotorua. An

outbreak of typhoid in Whaka would give the town a most serious set back in its tourist traffic, and if the town was to beeome the chief spa in the Southern Hemisphere no stone must he left unturned to maintain its high health standard. In ianswer to a question the Mayor said the individual native would contribute nothing. There would be group conveniences and the Minister had made a grant of £900 in view of the fact that native lands could not be : -made responsible for special rates. A vote of thanks to the Mayor was proposed by Mr. J. W. Wall and earried with' acclamation.