BOROUGH LOAN PROPOSALS.

Gisborne Times, Volume X, Issue 991, 10 September 1903, Page 2

BOROUGH LOAN PROPOSALS.

STATUTORY MEETING OF RATE- | PAYERS. r _ 8 A meeting uf ratepayers in connection £ with ti:io forthcoming Borough Loan poll was hek'i in the Academy of Music last evening. About ninety persons were pre- 1 sent, His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. Tnwnlev) presiding. " The Chairman read *he advertisement 1 calling the meeting. The sum proposed i to he borrowed was £75,000 for Borough improvements, and the rate of interest 4.V per cent. His Worship coutradieted the < statement made at the Ratepayers’ Association that there had been interference in regard to the proposed visit of a Government geologist to the district. He had done what he could to get the geologist to visit the district. He explained ths steps taken by the Harbor Board in the Bill to be introduced to Parliament. The Harbor Board were not in any way bound to lend nor the Council to borrow without the sanction of the ratepayers. Anyone stating otherwise was simply talking non--sense. Either they had not an intelligent knowledge of the facts, or they were wilfully misrepresenting facts. (Applause.) The Mayor read portions of the Bill in support of the opinion previously expressed. They could not move a hand’s turn in the matter of borrowing until the poll was taken. The Harbor Board Bill simply made provision for the Public Trusteo to lend the sum £20,000, but he (the speaker) thought that if the poll was carried the Borough Council would be able to make favorable arrangements for the loau without going to the Harbor Board. Mr Sievwright complained that the advertisement referring to the water and drainage schemes was not sufficiently definite. It did not say what particular scheme was to be adopted. The Mayor said that to the man who had his quarter-acre and was pleasod to . throw slops anywhere, it was useless to talk about the necessity 7 of drainage, but this was not progress. There were some men who said that they had been drinking tank waters for many years, and were wil--5 ling to go on doing so. He (the speaker) ‘ hoped to see the ratepayers recognise the 1 necessity of providing the town with a c proper water and drainage Bcherne, so 1 that it would be as other towns of its sizo 3 and importance. The poll had previously been carried, and he hoped to see it carried j again. ’ Applause and voices : “ I hope not." a "No.”

The Mayor went on to speak of the alteration that had been made in the proposals since the last poll. Mr Lysnar : It is below the engineer's estimate by many thousands. The Mayor : You say that the engineer’s figures are all wrong. (Laughter.) Continuing, the Mayor said that nothing better than Waihirere as a source of water supply had been suggested. Whilst they had been waiting the ratable value of the Borough had increased from £33,100 to £38,480, and before the work was completed the valuation would be £45,000. The work would give a great impetus to the town, and make Gisborne what it ought to be one of the most healthy places in the colony. Gisborne ought to be the centre of one of the best tourist resorts in the colony. (Applause.) In conclusion His Worship referred to the suitability of Waihirere as a catchment area. He was prepared to go on with the proposals, and sincerely hoped that the poll would be carried. (Applause.) Referring to the Waimata scheme His Worship instanced the cost of a pumping Bcheme to Napier and New Plymouth. In the latter place they were dissatisfied with a pumping system, and were going further afield for a high pressure water supply. They would all admit that Gisborne ought to have a water supply, and there was nothing better than a high pressure scheme from Waiherere. (Applause.) Cr Whinray was the nest speaker, remarking that ho would like to say a few words in support of the course ho had taken. He was warmly in favor of water and drainage, but he objected to their fair district being pledgod to 'an abortive scheme. He was confident that if £15,000 were spent in building a dam at Waihirere that it would be rnonoy wasted, for the ground would not hold the water. There should be not the slightest element of doubt about the scheme the Borough adopted. He wanted to see evory scheme investigated, and this the Council had not done. They had shielded themselves behind Mr Mestayer’s report, and refused to take a common sense view of the question by looking further afield for a better scheme. The speaker caused a good deal of amusement in his description of what sort of water the town would get from the proposed dam, maintaining that in a dry season they would not have the pure water spoken of by the Mayor, but “ stagnant frog froth.” He spoke at length on the necessity for amalgamation of the borough and suburbs, so that a comprehensive scheme could be obtained for the whole. The question wanted to be put on much broader lines. The ratepayers had been shown at a previous meeting by a young man that there was not sufficient water at Waihirere to supply Gisborne, especially at the rate at which it was growing. The Waihirere scheme at best was an immature and ill-considered one, He asked the ratepapers to insist that the Council should investigate each and every scheme suggested to them. Captain Tucker asked if the whole of the borough were included in tho special rating district, and whether the money provided tqke the tyatqr to all places. This ho considered was the crucial question. The Mayor said he could not promise that every placo in the borough would be supplied. Provision was mado for ten miles of mains, but they could not be expected to serve isolated places. Every house would not have it at once. In every town in the colony water supply and drainage were gradual works. They had to mako a start, and they could not expect to be all supplied at once. Cr Lysnar : You mako no provision in your estimates to supply many of them at all. The Mayor, in reply to Mr Whinray, explained to the meeting the steps taken by the Council in years past to obtain a water scheme. For twenty years past dozens of sources had been investigated, and all expert advice pointed to Waihirere. The present was a dry season, and there was water flowing there, and it was not right for Mr Whinray to refer to it as a stagnant pool. Sir Sievwrighfc said that Captain Tucker’s question applied equally to drainage as to water. The Mayor : Every house cannot be supplied at once. Captain Tucker : But they have to pay all the time. The Mayor: Health should be placed before wealth. We want a clean city. Captain Tucker: As you are not supplying ail, don’t you think you should have a special rating district ? The Mayor said they had followed Mr Bell’s opinion. The whole of the Borough would benefit from the work. By serving the larger portion of the Borough they benefited the whole. Insurance charges would be reduced by 25 per cent. Mr J". East said he was certain that there was not ten per cent, of the persons in the hall who had visited the upper part of Waihirere. He had gone there on the previous day, and whilst charmed with the surroundings he regretted that he did not see any water. There was no more water there than in any of the hills surrounding. He stood aghast when he saw the immense chasm that had to be bridged before they could store a single drop of water. A light soil on the surface and a rotten papa clay substance underneath was a description of Waihirere. It was no use bringing a bare water supply to Gisborne. They required water for many purposes-baths, extinguishing fires, industries, etc.—but this could not be obtained from Waihirere. He was not in sympathy with those who did not want water. Criticising Mr Mestayer’s figures, the speaker contended that no provision was made for reticu-

lation. Supposing Waihirore should be a failure, they could not sell their head works. There was also an ugly probability that the scheme would fail, and on that account he would rather not have it. They were a small community, and could not afford to take any risks. The Mayor said Mr Mestayer made provision for a population of 12,000. In answer to Mr Morgan, the Mayor said that it was Mr Mestayer’s supplementary report that the Council was following. The Mayor then declared that the poll would be taken on September ! 23rd.