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FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1945
SEWERAGE, AND ■ THE PBRIE
OF THE
FUTURE
. ACCORDING to what members of the town council saw and heard on Wed
nesday the deep drainage project for Pirie has gone far beyond the theory
and vision stage, and is now being built on something more concrete than a
wish. Much water will flow in and out the harbor before the actual work is
started, and probably some years will elapse before we shall be able to intro
duce the new system.
But it is the fact that it is on the way that carries most weight, for it an
nounces to the world that this is still the progressive centre of old, and not a
decadent town with no future. There were those who looked at the sudden
spurt of Whyalla, shook their heads wisely and remarked that Pirie was to be
left behind in the race for survival and expansion. The fact that the Govern
ment is contemplating facing all the difficulties which preparation for deep
drainage must present here is an indication of how the future importance and
power of the town is regarded.
Had it not been for the war. even now the sheet piling and concrete wharf
being used at the Baltic end would have been stretching north to?the Smelters,
costing the country hundreds of thousands of pounds. Add to-that the thought
that this town has running into it one of the finest railway services in" the
world, and the inevitable question must be "Why should this be?"
IjN reply it may be baldly stated that Pirie is still the hub of South Australia,
and will continue to be so far into the future. Through wartime it has
proved again and again that it is the natural communications centre of the
Commonwealth. Apart from its great industry the port is the outlet and inlet
for so much that it cannot be allowed to deteriorate.
Anything approaching finality in the matter of sewerage has been slow in
coming. But at least we know now how far the practical side of the scheme has
progressed, and there can be a general feeling that it is now a matter of only
months before we shall have something of a definite nature.
And who is there in the town who will be found to cavil at the thought of
paying a few pounds a year in rating for the modern system of drainage?
There may be an isolated case, but the vast majority of owners of property
will welcome its coming. No community of 1945 likes living in an atmosphere
of 1898.
It is a little too early to throw our hats in the air and shout. But we can
be quietly content in the knowledge that sewerage of Pirie is now something
real and tangible, and not a dream. The next move—the engineers' report—has
been promised within three or four months.
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