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A £6000 Plan – At the meeting on the 1st of June, the Water Committee presented the following scheme of the Borough Surveyor’s for the supply of water in the Western district, which is here produced in Mr. Laing’s own words:-
- “ The present mains extend as far as the Seaside Hotel [now the Palace Hotel], White-rock-place, an 8 inch main having recently been laid down from the Priory through Robertson street to that spot; but beyond this, westward, there are no pipes belonging to the Board – the district being very inadequately supplied by a 6 inch main belonging to Mr. Clark, which is in a bad condition. Considering this fact and the increasing importance of this part of the borough, I beg to submit the annexed carefully prepared plan, showing the extension of water mains, which I think the Board is called upon to carry out in this direction. I recommend that an 8 inch main be laid from the termination of the present 8 inch main along the whole front line of houses as far as the Arch and up the London road as far as the houses extend – a total distance of about 4,500 feet. Also that a 6in. high level main be laid from the termination of the present high level main at Linton terrace, round Cuckoo Hill and along the Norman road to Lavatoria square, together with the 6in. branch mains shown on the plans; making a total amount of about 10,600 feet. This 6in. main is imperatively called for, as the houses upon the high level in this district were totally unsupplied with water for a considerable period last summer, and it is necessary to provide against a similar contingency during the approaching dry season.” [This alleged absence of water in the high-levels was flatly contradicted at the time by the editor of Brett’s Gazette so far as his own house was concerned, which was nearly at the top of Norman road. Not only was he never without water on the ground floor and in the basement, but he could also draw from a tap on the third floor, which was the height of two floors above the summit of Norman road. He gave a public invitation to persons interested in the matter to come and prove his statement. The cause of some persons on high ground being without water was the bad provision or non-provision of cisterns, and the wasteful use of water when they got it; the latter practice having continued more or less ever since.] “For the smaller streets” (continued Mr. Laing), “4in. pipes will be sufficient, and a length of about 5,000 feet will be required. I also recommend that an 8 inch main be laid in Meadow (now Queen’s) road, from Stone street to the present main near the pedestal, being a distance of about 1100 feet. I have also prepared plans and sections which have met with the approval of your committee for a new reservoir in St. Andrew’s Gardens, and for the enlargement and embankment of the present large reservoir there, which will enable the Board to store in those gardens a quantity of water amounting to about 9,559,640 gallons.” – Accompanying this -
