HEALTH OFFICER'S ADVICE RESENTED

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 126, 18 August 1927, Page 7

HEALTH OFFICER'S ADVICE RESENTED

REPLY FROM ONE TREE HILL "It is a great pity that the officers of the Health Department do not content themselves with Health Department affairs instead of lending advice to the local bodies/* This remark was made by Mr. R. G. Clark, chairman of the One Tree Hill Road Board, last evening:, in reply to the statement of the medical officer of health that One Tree Hill should be forced to join the city. Early this month floods in the lowlying district half a mile from the Ellerslie railway station upset the function of the Ellerslie Town Board’s septic tank with the result that the flood pond was turned into a sewage lake. Dr. H. Chesson, medical officer of health, forwarded a report of the conditions to the Minister of Health, the Hon. J. A. Young, stating that he visited the area in question and found that the Ellerslie Town Board was waiting for the flood water to subside before covering the area with chloride of lime. He went on further to say that the main trouble lay in the separate action of the little local authorities around Auckland. "It is a pity that action cannot be taken to force the districts like Ellerslie, One Tree Hill and other small road boards to join up with the Greater Auckland scheme,** he said. One Tree Hill is not without blame in the matter, according to the health officer. He asserts that One Tree Hill raised objection to the Ellerslie Town Board running its sewer through One Tree Hill property. CHAIRMAN’S REPLY On receipt of this report, Mr. Clark forwarded the following reply to the Minister of Health: “With reference to Ellerslie drainage, there is no question of the joint interests of Ellerslie and One Tree Hill. It is purely Ellerslie’s business. We have had difficulties to contend with in One Tree Hill but have successfully coped with them by erecting a pumping-station in the western area and connecting with the Auckland sewerage, which certainly can be done in Ellerslie. “The remarks regarding joining the city are strongly resented by me. "It is a great pity the officers of your department do not content themselves with Health Department affairs instead of tendering advice to local bodies. “Speaking for my own district, One Tree Hill, we are quite capable of looking after our own business, and we contend we have done so successfully up to the moment. We therefore resent either Dr. Hughes’s ar Dr. Chesson’s advice in this direction. “The fact remains the conditions at Ellerslie are at present a distinct blot on the landscape as far as Auckland is concerned, and are a distinct menace not only to the residents in the immediate vicinity, but also to every passenger using the train service. “There is little wonder that several outbreaks of diphtheria have been found in Auckland recently.” The members of the board unanimously endorsed their chairman’s letter.