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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 188, 15 January 1912, Page 4

"LITTLE LOCAL MATTERS." Numerous expressions of opinion, spoken and written, have reached us in regard to the mild complaints that New Plymouth is not up-to-date in matters affecting the comfort and convenience of citizens and visitors. In respect to the collection of household refuse, it is pointed out that by dropping a request to that effect in a box retained for the purpose at the Town Hall, a householder within the borough may, on payment of a small fee, have refuse removed from his premises. It is suggested that the removal of refuse is not a matter for the l option of the citizen, but one of urgency in the public interest, and should be made compulsory by the municipal authority. It has been stated since the publication of "Little Local Matters" that the Borough Council has. really interested itself in the provision of adequate street conveniences which are so palp'ably lacking, but that the difficulty of obtaining sites has been a handicap. This is possibly a matter that a real enthusiasm for hygienic reform would set right in a short period. No correspondent or caller has mentioned the urgent matter of numbering the houses, the apparent presumption being that New Plymouth is only for the use of its residents, who are perfectly familiar with the locality of all the dwellings and business places. One gentleman, who has not the excuse of being a stranger, mentions the rather peculiar method of watering the chief thoroughfares, urging that the damage and inconvenience o«casioned on a dusty day is effected before the very efficient watering machine is under weigh. There is, of course, no reason why Devon street, from the Post Office to the Red House, should not on dusty mornings be watered before the shops are opened. Shopkeepers wage perpetual war on dust, and they have a perfect right to demand that their goods shall be saved and their convenience studied. The higgledy-piggledy nature of the business portion of Devon street has moved another citizen to the expression of opinion that some uniformity of verandah building should take the place of the pathetic untidiness and makeshift nature of most of them. The foot passenger on this street in wet weather simply steps from deluge to deluge, not only because of the varying heights of the verandahs, but because of their trumpery nature, and the fact that a large proportion of them are leaky, and the water spouts and downpipes disgracefully out of repair. On properties owned by wealthy citizens in Devon street one sees roofs patched up with bits of timber possibly wrenched from packing cases. There is no excuse of poverty, for in every case of dilapidated exteriors and wretched verandahs, the owners are well able to effect the requisite alterations and repairs. In a town whose surroundings are so beautiful it might be a matter of pride for property-owners to fall into line in these matters of civic advancement. In many cases the municipal body has power to insist that alterations should be made on the grounds that neglect to do so creates a public nuisance. At a time when many decent places of business are being erected, it would seem to afford an opportunity to owners of woefully neglected business premises to make this very Cinderella of towns less abject and poverty-stricken in appearance.