CAMBRIDGE DOMAIN BOARD.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1864, 17 June 1884, Page 3

CAMBRIDGE DOMAIN BOARD.

Mr W. L. 0. Williams and the «;* j t Drainage Scheme. A special meeting of the above boaid was held nt the town board )ffieo on Saturday afternoon. Present: Messrs T. Wells (chairman), J. P. Campbell, Fisher and Kiikwood. The Chairman in opening the proceedings 1 briefly explained the business of the meeting. They woe all a«.tre that Mr W. L. C. Williams lud m.ule a formal complaint in the name of the Cambiidge public to the Government against the carrying out of the drainage scheme at the lake. On this matter the follow ing telegram had been received from Mr H. J. H. Elliott, of the Crown Lands Department : — To Chairman of Domain Board, Cambridge. Complaint has been m.idc that Cambridge Domain Board is permitting town board to construct drains into the lake which will liav c effect of convei ting it into a cesspool. When delegation of Go veinoi's power was made to domain board it was with the object of planting and beautifying the shores of the lake. Kindly vepoi t facts for mifoimntion of Government. H. J. H. Eu.iorr. The Chairman in lepljmg to this communication, said he had given the statement a most unqualified denial, and remarked that he considcud it due to the boaulthata copy of the complaint be submitted to them to lepoit upon. In accordance with this the following, which is a copy of Mr Williams' complaint, was received :—: — To the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. The Cambridge Domain Boaid are abu&iu;,' their tiust, by peiimtting the town boaid toconstuict drams to chain a huge poitiou of stieet drainage into the Lake, thueby conveiting the Lake into a cesapool. The water fiom this Lake is the water supply for tho Cambiidge i.nlw.vy station. I submit that, as public tiuste.es they have no light to loin with tho town boaid to damage the public bathing place. 1 lequcst, on bjhalf of the Cambiidge public, that immediate steps bo taken to stop their piesent action. (Signed) W. L. C. Williams. In leply to tins the Chairman said he had diaftcd the following reply, which he would submit for the consideration of the boaid : — H. J. H. Eliott, Esq, Undei Hccietary foi Land>, Wellington. Sir,— l have the honom to acknowledge the leceipt of your telegiam of the 31st ult., and your letter ot the lth hist., coveiing a copy of Mr Williams' complaint, re com citing the Lake into a cesspool. The correspondence has been con-ideied by our boaid, and I am directed to reply as follow-, : _(i) Mr Williams holds no public position in the town, neither was he deputed by any local autlunity oi public meeting to make any complaint on behalf of the public m this matter, it is an as- • sumption of autlnuity for which, as a pnvate citi/en, he has 'no w.uiant. (2) The boaid li.ive not, neither aie they, neither will they permit any wate-i but lain water to find its way into the Lake, and what they aie now doing is being done aftei m.vture consideration in the domain inteiest. (3) The facts «ue : The banks of tho Lake are about 80ft. high, almost peipendiculai, and composed of \ciy hue sand, whilst the domain piopcity and roads Muiouiidingfue veiy le\el, consequently the lam watei flow's o\ ei the siufacc, and fioui tune to time has washed many thousands of yards of these sandy banks into the Lake. This cieated a two-fold damage, one loosing the land, the othei filling up the Lake Howto prevent this with the limited funds at the boaid's dispos.il has gnen the boaid very gi eat anxiety, and has had their best consideration. About two yeais ago the boaid, with the town boaid, laised the eaith on the biow of the bank at the Hamilton toad end of the Luke, and conducted a pipe way to cany this bin face water down the banks, but this lecently gave way, and since then moic than 1000 yaids of edi th have been washed into the Lnk* from this spot The boaid aie now (assize 1 by the town boaid) constituting sumpbs and'a wooden culveits to the biow of the bank, and an non bhoot down the side to catch this sin face watei, and deli vet it safely at the Lake level. This is the best solution of the difficulty that has pic-entcd itself to the board, and had the boaid ample funds two other such shoots aie equally necessary. If the lam water is not collected and guided down the banks, it is only a matter of time when the Cambiidge public v\ ill have no lake.— l am, Hir, youus faithfully, Thos. Wj:lls, Chairman C.D.B. It was needless for him to icfcr at any length to the subject, as they wtie all fully con vei s>ant of all the ciiciimstance* connected thciewith. ]t was quite out of the question to entcitain CfUiyins; this surface-watei into the Waikato nver as had been piopo&ed, as such a scheme would cost the town several thousands of pounds, an cxpenditiuc altogether out of the question. Men who had a much greater st.ike m the town than Mi Williams approved of the scheme, not only as being the least expensive, but also the most feasible He thought that any representations which Mr Williams had thought fit to make might well have been made through the boaid. To give any foicc to Mi r Willums's rcpiesentatio'ns that gentleman should have been deputed by sonm public body, or else by a public meeting called specially to consider the question. It was fully two yeais ago since the scheme had been fiist undertaken, and surely Mr Williams had plenty of time in the mtenal to lodge his complaint, instead of waiting until the whole thing had been earned out. — Mi Kiikwood ngiced that Mr Williams had not tieated the matter in a proper spiiit. He, himself, had been opposed to the diainage as earned out, but he had Utterly become convinced that nothing better could be done, and that the boaid was acting in the best interests of the town. He hoped the board would see that seweiage would not be allowed to find its way into the lake. He would piopose that a copy of the repl.>|cl rifted by Mi Wells be sent to the Minister for Lands.— Mi Fisher suppoited the proposition, which was unanimously adopted. Nuw Road. — The Chaiiman said the town boaid had made application for a piece of land along the biow of the lake for the pin pose ot forming a road between the bank and the railway. Tho road was a veiy neeessaiy one.—Application gi anted. Mr Campbixt/s Hkstonatiow — The Chairman said no doubt they would all join with him in expressing their sincere legret that encumstances had aiisen which deprived them of the esteemed sei vices and valued assistance of Mr J P. Campbell, whose resignation had been submitted. He had been a member of the board from the date of its existence, and had held many other public offices in their midst, and the manner in which he had always discharged his manifold public duties was not only a source of credit to himself, but afforded every satisfaction to the public and all concerned. As a colleague there was no one's advice be moic readily sought, and more ■confidently accepted. They all deploied 1 his departure from amongst them, not only as a public man, but as a friend, and his loss, he felt sure, would be irreparable. He would conclude by proposing that.Mr Campbells resignation be accepted, and that the board in doing so expresses its regret at loosing the services of so efficient a colleague, and that this expression of regret be tendered to Mr Campbell.— Mr Fisher, in seconding the proposition, endorsed the remarks of the chairman. He trusted that the change which Mr Campbell was about to make would be for his benefit and material welfare. The Chairman formally tendered the expression of the meeting to Mr Campbell, adding a few complimentary remarks, — Mr Campbell, addressing his former colleagues, thanked them yery' sincerely for the very kind manner in which they had referred ,to hinnelf, and the services he had been been able to render to the board, as well ,as in, other public capacities. During hi* thirteen years residence in Cambridge he "-had' 1 always -taken interest in the public matters of the 1 district. He « copVidered it was the duty of every man / go far aslay in his power to give his aid,

iii "forwarding' the Welfare" of the' community of which he was a member by assisting iv all matters of public interest concerning it ; and in this way be considered he had never clone more than his duty. It was with very great regret he leffcthe Cambridge district, with which for so many yeaV he was associated in so many different capacities. He had always taken a great interest in the board and its work as lie believed it promised to be a source of much benefit to the future town. As he was sitting there for the last time he could not pass without reference the obligations which the town ow ed to their worthy chairman, Mr Wells, to whom all who had a stake in Cambudge were in the highest degree indebted, moie especially for the manner in which lie had conducted the affairs of the board. It was with grent reluctance that he tore himself away from the Cambndge people, and the several positions lie had held amongst them. His only feeling was that he had been associated with gentleman who rated his services but too highly. Appointment of Mr Hewitt. — On the motion of the choirman it was agreed to nominate Mr E. Hewitt for the vacancy. Mr Kukwood in seconding the noinina tions, thought Mr Hewitt would not be eligible for oHice until he had fulfilled the terms of Ins lease by fencing and putting down in giass his domam allotments. This concluded the business.