THE BENTLEY STREET SWAMP NUISANCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 814, 8 July 1881, Page 3

THE BENTLEY STREET SWAMP NUISANCE.

•i i ■■'■«»"•■ -:"■■■ «'■" ■■■ d ! ti . ! "-} : " '[To the.Editor of the WaikabapX'DiiiiY.']/ 1 ~|Sie,—Will you permit me, ; throujjh the': medium, ofiyour valuable journal','to 1 make a few remarks with reference to the above;-which-came oil for''discussion"at. ■tjielast Borough Cqunoil meeting—.upon which'.'cTcc'asibh T had; the.rinisfortune'. to listen' to it. ,' Ijm&y say I was a little disappointed atllie arguments brought forward; in fact, the whole affair was an absurd burlesque, interspersed with ribaldry and bad English, especially on thepfcrkof one old'gentleman' : who'kept,'| constantly popping up and', like a. : Jack ; in;tho-bbx, : . ;utter|y regardless.; .of• 6rder br etiquette—arid \vaa the subject of remarks by tha'onlookers, to .the ett'edt that he was aiiything, but:n,Good,.Templar. The grand result of nearly an hour waeted.jn :t,hia ; way. was simply; tHat : a resolution on this:subject, made ata for-' mer meeting,wasVescinded,' j! ,: I And now, sir, to the cause of bur com- 1 plaints. Durinj? last winter's heavy ■floods' 1 the natural outlet to'this creek, was filled up by the Waipoua, iii consequence of which th.e,,creek was backed upborne, feet, subm'erging a considerable portion of our property;.'arid when the Council was applied,to remove the water they objected, on the pqore of the expense, which would, by their own estimate, amount to £2 or ;£3. And, sir, considering that since. these allotments contiguous to Bentley-street have been occupied—some five years—not one penny has been expended on them by the Council, either .in roads or any' other improvement, I think bur demand is not very outrageous. Can ! any one of the members of the Council say the same of any street abutting on their own residence! One scrupulous or addleheaded Councillor considered the expenditure of £2 or in a box culvert would be an iniquitous thing to do, and seemed to think that because a pond had existed there some 25 years or more it should be held as not a nuisance. Now, air, I can instance as recently as seven years back large ponds lying in Queen-street, but does it follow they should be allowed to remain there now, as tbe township progresses ? The same argument applies to any objectionable pond in any part of the Borough. Further, they said the water was pure and sweet. No doubt it is at the present time, but allow the fine weather to set in, and this lagoon will simply be a miasma, and 'calculated to generate no end of fever, &c, from its exhalations. The sediment now existing, which one savant put down to the effects of ducks, &&, is caused by the water being backed up for the want of an efficient outlet. I may add the cost of the remedy will be about the rates paid by one holder, alono, in the street annually. I remain, &c,| J, lokns, Bentley-street, July 6th.