DRAINAGE IN NEW STREETS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8392, 10 April 1907, Page 5

DRAINAGE IN NEW STREETS.

THE PLUMBEBS' DIFFICULTY. !

A deputation, consisting of Messrs R. E. Jones, A. «L Parton, A. P. Rawson, J. La Roche, and W. Cole, I waited on the Masterton Borough | Council at its meeting last evening, ' to discuss matters with Reference to drainage connections in Cole Street extension and Essex Street. Mr Jones stated that hitherto the Council had put in all drainage connections up to the building line for £2 10s each. The plumbers had accepted contracts for drainage in Cole Street extension and Essex Street, and naturally thought that the Council would put in the connections, but the Engineer had informed!' them that the plumbers would have to do the work themselves. This,-; the speaker contended, was unfair, and he would ask the Council to revert to the order of affairs that had previously existed and put in the connections. He went on to say that at the top end of Cole Street it was impossible for plumbers to put in drainage connnections without a' Jubilee engine, and the plumbers did no possess such an engine.

Mr Parton endorsed the last speaker's remarks. The Deputy-Mayor (Cr McEwen) asked the deputation whether they were aware that the streets in question did not belong to the Council. Mr Parton: The roads are passed anyhow. Cr Temple wished to know whether there was any reasb-?, why the matter should not be settled between lithe plumbers and the property owners concerned. If the streets were taken over by the Council that body should do their best to help the residents to obtain the drainage. The Engineer stated that the streets had not yet been taken over by the Council, and the Council could not help the residents in obtaining the drainage until they took over the streets. He asked that where the connections cost more than £2 10s, who was going to pay the difference in the cost, the Council or the plumbers? The plumbers, he said, took work that cost £2 10s, but when the cost was above that they wanted the Council to pay the difference. If the Council wanted to get back the cost of drainage connections they should amend the by-law and make the owners of the property pay for their own drainage connections. In Cole Street extension there was two months' maintenance on the part of the contractors to run, and if the Council broke into the sewers they could not expect the contractors to maintain the roads. He would be pleased to give everyone the drainage, but it was quite clear that the Council could not touch the roads at present.

Cr Pauling agreed with the Engineer that the Council could not touch the roads until the two months' maintenance had expired. The Deputy-Mayor suggested that the matter should be allowed to stand over until the Council had obtained legal advice. Cr Eton suggested that the Town Clerk might know the legal position of the Council. The Town Clerk stated that the Council could not legally touch the roads until they had been declared public roads. Another thing was that the Council bad no money for drainage of the kind under discussion. The Engineer explained that the work would not be suspended. The only thing was that the Council could not do it. There was nothing to hinder the property owners carrying out the drainage connections if they obtained the 'permission of the contractors. The Deputy-Mayor (to the deputation) : The position seems clear. The Council cannot do anything to help the residents. Mr Parton: Will the Council make the connections after the two months maintenance has expired? The Deputy-Mayor: We can't tell you. The elections will be held this month, and we can't bind our successors. Mr Parton: The position is, then, that we will have to wait for two months to get the drainage, or ask the contractors to allow us to make the connections. The Deputy-Mayor: That's so. The deputation then withdrew.