MUNICIPAL CONFERENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 166, 15 July 1902, Page 3

MUNICIPAL CONFERENCE.

INTERVIEW WITH THE MAYOR.

His "Worship the Mayor (Mr A. Kidd) having , just returned from the sitting of the Municipal Association at Wellington, was waited upon by a representative of the "Auckland Star" to ascertain his views upon the work done at the Conference. Asked regarding the practical utility of such gatherings, the Mayor said: Having nov/ attended a sitting of the Municipal Conference, I am satisfied that the Municipal Association is an institution of great value. There were 48 representatives present. Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin were represented by their respective Mayors and Town Clerks, and the Mayor of Wellington presided, with two Councillors representing the city. We only sat four days, and dealt with 103 questions; and I am strongly of opinion that much good must resuU. In fact, I have not the slightest doubt from the manner in which the recommendations of the Conference were afterwards received by the ActingPremier, Sir Joseph Ward, that full consideration will be given to them. As to the utility of such conferences, I think that the bringing together of such a number of representative municipal members from all parts of the colony cannot help but be for the general good of ratepayers, owing to the interchange of views on municipal questions. As an instance of the work done, I may mention the question of erecting and maintaining hospitals for infectionus diseases and for contacts. As we have a Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, it was felt to be unwise to have a second body for another kindred institution, so a recommendation was made to the Government that the powers of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards should be enlarged to enable them to deal with contacts and infectious cases. Did you do anything in the matter of enlarging city boundaries, so as to incorporate small local bodies under one strong Council V The Conference dealt with the question of borough boundaries in what I consider a sensible manner. The question of, say, joining the city might be in the minds of residents, and yet the local councils would not take any action. What the Conference decided to recommend was that on the presentation of a petition signed by not less than 15 per cent, of the ratepayers on the district electors' roll of any two or more adjoining boroughs, demanding that a poll of the ratepayers of such boroughs shall be- taken on the proposal to constitute '-united borough, the mayors of such shall within 60 days give effect a> nhe petition and take such poll. That puts it out of the power of any council to block the desire of ratepayers to amalgamate. A matter of minor importance decided upon was that in the event of a tie for an election the returning officer shall not as heretofore give his casting vote, but put the names of both candidates into the ballot box and publicly draw out the name of the one elected, it being the first one that wins, of course. You also dealt with fire brigades and municipal fire insurance? Oh. the Conference soon settled the question of municipal fire insurance by deciding it would be unwise for councils to undertake such enormous risks, so the suggestion was thrown out. The Conference also opposed State fire insurance. As to maintenance of fire brigades, it was decided to recommend that the cost be borne equally by municipal bodies, insurance companies, and the Government. We had a discussion upon the question of the compensation to be paid for buildings pulled down by order of the fire inspector to prevent the spread of the flames in any particular direction. Of course, in such cases the Council has to pay. What is suggested is that the following be added to section 316 of the Municipal Corporations Act:—"Provided that no compensation shall be paid by the Council for any damage causer] by (he act of an inspector, unless and until it shal? be proved that such damag-fi was unnecessary for the protection of life or of property more valuable than that destroyed. Tn that event the , value of the property destroyed is to be settled by arbitration and to bo paid by the Council, the insurance companies interested, and any owner of any uninsured adjoining building- benefited by the damage done." Did you decide anything regarding the widening of narrow streets? Yes, under the Act,if the Council wishes to connect two streets by buying a section of land, it was compelled to have a full width of 66 feet, no matter Kow narrow the streets themselves may be. Take Clarence-street, iri Ponsonby. for instance. It is only 10 feet wide, and yet the Council had to buy G6 feet to lengthen it. What the Conference recommends now is that councils shall only be required to buy the .same width a? that of tine existing streets which it is pro Dosed to widen. Another matter dealt with by the Conference was waste meters. "It "is known." the Mayor said, "that a great deal of water is wasted during the in cities, and the Conference decided to recommend that power be given to put on what may be termed waste meters and charge extra for the water sc unnecessarily wasted. '* The recommendations adopted by the Conference regarding the height of buildings are of interest. These, Mr Kidd said, are, shortly, that buildings shall not e-ceed a height of 90 feet in streets 99 feet or more in width, and shall not exceed 66 feet in streets," lanes, or right-of-ways less than 99 feet in width, the height to be measured from the average Jov2l of the footpath to the top of the parapet. Provision In case of fire is also made by recommending that all elevator shafis be erected outside of buildings, that all buildings 60 feeF and over be provided with outside ladders from the top storey to the first floor, that all steel and iron columns or girders be er.cased in terra cotta, brick, or concrete and fire-resisting plaster, or in silicate rot ton. with plaster of Paris; that every alternate floor and ceiling over 50 feet shall be of fire-resisting material, and supplied with fire-proof shutters,with outside handles and bolts, enabling the firemen to open them; that in all buildings of 60 feet in height and over fire mains be provided with hose connections at each floor; and that all fire-resisting doors be j of wood covered with tin. ' i