The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1917. THE BOROUGH BY-LAWS.

Taihape Daily Times, 24 October 1917, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1917. THE BOROUGH BY-LAWS.

With whi oil is incorporated The Ttii tiapo i'oat and Waimanno News).

Following upon the mention of bor- | ougb. by-laws at a recent meeting of j the Borough Council we deemed it in j the interests of the health of this j rapidly increasing community that w# should urge the adoption of by-laws governing sanitary matters, especially in connection with the linking up of residences with the sewage or ? that existing by-laws, if there were any that could be enforced, should be amended so as to leave no loophole for any person to shirk his duty and so endanger the health and the life of the ■whole. We instanced cases that we stated then, and state now, are not in accordance with any by-laws on the subject of which we had any knowledge or experience, and we invited Borough Councillors and all those who pleased to inspect the cases which we also stated, were unJ der our daily observation. We may say that we are extremely gratified with the result of the initial steps we have taken. They were the means of bringing just about a score of ratepayers to see the breaches of the bylaws mentioned, among them being four B’orough Councillors and two inspectors A complaint was despatche - ' to the Borough Council by one ratepayer, and it is the cryptic reply ordered to be sent to the complainant that again brings us to notice the subject. We are assured by the Mayor that by-laws under which sewage matters should be controlled are in force, and are enforceable; we mean that all such work must be done in accordance with those by-laws or it will not be accepted by the Board’s Inspector. Now, the complaint made is either just and well-founded, or it is frivolous and baseless; but what steps does the Borough Council take to warrant the covert reply it has so unceremoniously ordered to be sent to a ratepayer who has had the temerity to appeal for that which will save him from being prosecuted for a breach of the very by-laws he is seeking to maintain. We must assume from the reply that the Council is hiding behind its Inspector, we have to examine the case as it rests with him, leaving the curtness with which the ratepayer is dealt with for a future occasion. Now, the Inspector has, so says the reply, passed the work complained of, which in other words means that the work has been completed quite in accordance with all by-law demands, This } of course,

eliminates the contractor from legal blame. By passing his work, the Inspector has admitted that it has been completed quite up '/to the demands of the plans which he advised the Borough Council to legalise. The crucial point is, the sewage connec--1 tion under notice is either in accordance with the by-laws or it is not. The Inspector says it is, and we distinctly aver that it is not; that it is not, in the most important essential. The bylaws provide that the main sewage pipe shall be at least twelve inches underground; the Inspector says it is, and we say that it is not. This sewage pipe is laid some six or eight inches from the wall of the house for the whole length of the and we state that from the air shaft to the rear of the house, at no point is the sewage pipe a foot or nine inches | underground; and for a great part of the way it is not three inches underground, and that three inches in places is only got by tilling in the ex- ( cavation made on which to erect the 1 building. The attitude of the Inspector is inexplicable, because we are convinced that neither the word, nor the spirit, of the by-laws has been observed in this case, at one point, the sewage pipes, only six or eight inches from touching the main building are at a higher level than the floor of the rooms inside the building. Imagine this sewage pipe being broken in that position and discharging its contents of filth up the wall of the house and under the floor of the bedroom just inside. We say that if the owner of the house condones this he should be prosecuted forthwith for maintaining such a menace to the piiblic safety, and we have no hesitation in saying that any Court of law ' would compel him to comply with what the by-laws seem very clear ; about. Here is an anomalous position in which an Inspector passes work as lawfully completed, who could at once turn round and prosecute the owner of the house-for a breach of the sewage by-law_ The sewage pipes not being the regulation depth underground has necessitated a gully trap being built up the side of the house, where it stands, as one Councillor remarked, like a lighthouse, from whence is spattered over the side of the building any waste which it is there to take. Worse still, it is erected in the only drain that was cut to carry away the storm, water fallingon the roof of the house; it has effectually and completely dammed that storm water into a small corner, its only outlet being under the. house. In the late heavy rain a portion of the building was in and over a veritable lake. There is one other important matter which we urge is contrary to the by-laws In this, however, we are again at variance with the Inspector, who says that it is quite legitimate, and is sanctioned by the by-laws as it is in connection with a detached building. The waste from a bath is taken under the floor of a building, on the ground, through an ordinary piece of downpiping, which is fixed in no way except in its connection with the i bath. In the wind blowing yesterday , this piece of pipe at the gully-trap j end was waving about and giving conj cern for the safety of the connection at the bath end, under the building, j We contend that the by-laws lay down I that such a waste-pipe should be of j screwed galvanised iron pipe. We | may be wrong, and we are, if the Inj spector can verify the statement that sheet-iron spouting is permitted by the by-laws in such a case, but we do not think for a minute that he can. Let us repeat again, that the sewage complained of is either one thing or 1 the other', it is in accordance with bylaws or it is not. It is there for everybody to see, and it being one of the first and most important func--1 tions of a public journal to look after . the public interests we are bound to i see that the by-laws affecting the health of the whole community are observed in both word and spirit, and : we have no intention of doing otherwise, There is just one other point that has occurred to us through being asked the question, “What has it got to do with you?” Briefly, we would suggest to all ratepayers and also residents in any town that they should not only bring obvious breaches of the by-laws under the notice of the authorities, but that it is their bounden duty to do so. We mention this because it seems that some Councillors are not quite clear on the point. Epidemics of disease are not unknown hereabont, therefore, everyone should be zealous for the safety and good name, from a health point of view, of their town. Perfect sanitation means comparative freedom from disease, and a proportionate higher value to property.' We hope that now we have raised the question the work we complain of will be tested by the provisions under which they are permitted.