LIGHTING OF DEVONPORT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 58, 8 March 1913, Page 11

LIGHTING OF DEVONPORT.

PRIVATE SYNDICATE'S CONCESSIONS.

A MEETING OF PROTEST

A meeting of Devonport residents to protis-t against the proposal of the local borough Council to enter into a contract with a private firm of engineers for the installation of electric lighting in the borough was held last evening, Mr R. H. Dialer presiding over an attendance of between thirty and forty people.

Mr \V. J. Napier, the convener of the ' meeting, said lie bad called the meeting, as a resident of 30 years' standing, in order that the public might have un opportunity of considering the electrical syndicate's proposals, which had been approved by the Council. It appeared that some of the councillors did not approve of the proposals for which they had voted. They were not aware that the Council was paying £3,000 for the concessions. The residents had not had an opportunity of considering the proposals, and Hie meeting at which they had been discussed was a private one and the proceedings had never "been made public. It was quite unprecedented for a local body which was practically out of office to tie up the ratepayers for 7, 14, or possibly -12 years, which meant two generations. The whole scheme was a monopoly, and monopolies were very seldom desirable. Devonport would have to show very good reason why it should be the only borough out of the 500 in New Zealand to grant a monopoly for its electric lighting. Every councillor and every ratepayer should have had a copy of the proposals. The people of Devonport should have the government of the borough, and the councillors should have ascertained the wishes of the ratepayers in the matter. Would anyone suggest that the directors of a private company would tie up the company for a certain term of years just before they went out of office, without consulting the shareholders? In the present case the deed had been prepared, and a special meeting of the Council was to be held next Tuesday night to consider th.c scheme. The resolution -that the Council had carried at its last meeting only "approved' - of the scheme, which hud not actually been ratified or adopted. Tie understood that no less than six of the councillors were not standing for re-election, and they would not have a chance of ascertaining whether their action in voting for the scheme had met with the approval of the ratepayers or not. The whole policy of every borough was to keep these things for the municipality. As far as he could understand, the cost of the scheme was to be .€1(3,000. Of til's amount, the ratepayers were giving back £3,000 as a concession for good-will, as well as the free gift of the concessions. This meant the amount of £430 a y.ear out of the rates, and the syndicate was to give 5 per cent out of the net profits. If the company made £3,000 they would get £60, for which they paid £430 in cash. Mr Napier then went on to point out that the borough -might poes-ibly be tied up for as long a term as 42 years. Municipal control was what was wanted. He declared that the proposals were simply "monstrous," and moved a resolution to the effect that a deputation wait on the Council at its next meeting on Tuesday night to protest aga-inst any binding contract beinig entered into, and that petitions be circulated for signatures and presented at the same meeting. •Mr Bach seconded the -motion. Mr T. Considine, a mem-ber of the Devonport Borough Council, explained that it was only as a ratepayer he had attended the meeting that evening. He was up against a concession that was given in the dying hours of the Council. His personal reason for retiring from the Council was the very fact that this huge monopoly bad been granted to a private company. Mr Wylie, the City Council's electrical engineer, had advised the Council that the undertaking should be a municipal one. Eventually Mr Wylie and Mr Davis had been asked to draw up separate reports, to be submitted to the ratepayers. But after those reports were presented Mr Wylie's scheme had been "pigeon-holed" and they were made no further use of. When the Council went into committee to finally decide the matter, he (the speaker) had informed the Council that it was a disgrace for a retiriag body to tie up ratepayers. He contended that the ratepayers should have "been consulted. The councillors who have voted in favour of the proposal were almost .unanimously of opinion that the- ratepayers should have a say in the matter.

Mr A. Nix-on, another member of the Council, explained that he had oppoeed the scheme right from the outset. He believed, however, that the Council, had mad-e the very best 'bargain possible, and he was not going to condemn them for their action. They had acted in all good fai-t'b. He diid not think the ratepayers had any r.pason to feel uneasy about the electric lifrh't, as he "didn't think they would ever see it."

After fuTbher. discussion the motion was carried without dissent.

A motion that the new Council be asked to go into the matter of a municipal plant and simply was held in abeyance in the meantime.