GREATER AUCKLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 66, 17 March 1908, Page 3

GREATER AUCKLAND.

MT. ED-IK AFFIRMS THE PRINCIPLE. I AMALGAMATION DISCUSSED. i ' | At last night's meeting of the Mt. ! Eden Borough Council, the Mayor (Air. j U. .Nicholson) brought up the question ' j of "Greater Auckland," and said that the . I principle had been affirmed at the con- : j lerence of delegates held to consider Mr. '. Midgley Taylor's drainage report. One . 1 large municipality, or "Greater Auckland," had then been decided upon, and • I a sub-committee, consisting of the ! Mayors oi the various boroughs, and ! i chairmen of different local bodies, had \ been appointed to go into the question : of a basis oi amalgamation. He now I wished to give them his reasons for j advocating a Greater Auckland, and it 1 j would be necessary for the Council to ! come to some definite conclusion on the I subject, so that the committee should know what course to pursue in preparing | its basis of amalgamation. The Mayor 1 then gave a carefully prepared estimate ■ ; of Mt. Eden's position in regard to the : scheme, as follows: — ' j Before touching upon the main, viea- | tion, it will doubtless be of interest to you to know the ratio Jt progress the I borotujh has made Juring the last ten .! jears, so- chat you may have a basis I upon which to make a calculation as ' to the progress likely to be maintained ! i during the next T_ years, being the esti- ;' mated time for the completion of the . i borough's drainage reticulation. The I valuation of the ratable properties in the | district on tile 31st March, 1597. was I £33_.751; on the 31st March, 1902, •| £S_S.US4; on the .list March, 1903, £1,- ---! 200,000. You will, therefore, see that | the ratable properties in the borough | have been nearly quadrupled in value ■ | during the last ten years. Of course, it j cannot be expected that the same ratio ! of progress will be maintained during I the abovementioned drainage period of j the next 12 years; but 1 think it can be j safely assumed that there will be a subI stautial progress during this period. In i the figures I am about to place before you 1 have assumed that there will be an increase during each future triennial period of at least 10 per centum on the ; valuations of ratable properties in the borough. This, 1 think you will agree, is a reasonable assumption, seeing that the borough will shortly have the benefit of electric traction, that over half of the borough is not. yet built upon, am! ' that at tiie end of each triennial period a portion of the borough will be efficiently drained under proposed scheme, in connection with the same figures, i have assumed that the cost of the bori ough's drainage will amount to £120,000 . j (the city engineer's rough estimate i 3 j £ 115,000): and. further, that the amount could be borrowed at 5 per cent (such ■ rate to include interest and sinking : | fund); and. further, that the same would I be expended at the rate of J-10,000 .i ' year. I have further assumed, and I have : i no reason to doubt the correctness of this assumption, that a general rati: of 1/ in ; i the £ will be sufficient to provide the , I necessary funds for the general upkeep '. I of the borough. The annual value of tha ' . | rata-ble properties in the borough at the i I present time is approximately JK 00,000, j I and at the next triennial valuation, in j about a year's time, 1 assume that the j annual value will be at least £06,000. 1 ( >n these assumptions the position in the ' Mt. Eden borough, if its Council carried , ': out the drainage scheme separate from I the other authorities, would, I antici- ! pate, be as set out in the attached state- ! ment. From this statement you will see i that I estimate that the drainage loan | rate in the borough would be: During I j the ]>t year. 2d in the £ ; 2nd year, 4d: I 3rd year, fid: 4th year, Od: sth year, . j Sd: Oth year. lOd; 7th year. 10,1;" Bth -j year, 1/; 9th year. 1.2; .-,_h year, 1/2; ! i 11th year. 1/4; 12th year. 1/4. | ] Having disposed of other aspects of i j the question, we have left to us the ' | other solution of the same, viz., the amal- I ; gamation of all the suburban authorities ! " ! into one municipality, viz., a (Greater j Auckland. 1 have, as one of your dele- I 1 ! gates, advocated this course, because I ' . j am satisfied, so far as the drainage ' j scheme is concerned, that the loan could be successfully floated by the larger corj poration at a much lower rate than by .any other body; that the whole work j could be more economically and elli- ' I ciently carried out and maintained; that ■ ! the water, therefore, could be more ■ j cheaply supplied; and that the rate to i | be levied for such purpose would he much j lower than the rate that would be required to be levied by any other autho- . rity. Of course, there are many other [ reasons why I favour the Greater Auck- . ; land scheme. These have already been | ably outlined by his Worship the Mayor . of Auckland, and. accordingly. I will not j here repeat them. I would remind you, 1 in closing, that you are the representatives of the most populous and wealthiest suburban borough, not only in the proi vincial district of Auckland, but in the Dominion; and I urge upon you to lay j aside all petty matters and approach ! the question on broad lines. If . | you do so, I fell convinced that ' j when the data in connection with the i scheme has been agreed to by the delei gates of the various authorities, and subj mitted to you for your consideration, ~ I you will unhesitatingly declare in favour i i of Greater Auckland. ■ | Mr. Potter: Our district is the richest : in the North Island, and we are better ." able to carry out a small drainage , scheme that many other municipalities. The Mayor: We will have to contri- - bute £40.000 to the main outfall scheme ' in any case. Mr. Potter: I consider we should support the Mayor of Auckland's drainage scheme. But until that is settled 1 do not think there is any need for a Greater Auckland. Mr. Warnock considered they were " trying to force on the Greater Auckland scheme under the guise of a drainage scheme. The Mayor moved: "That this Council _ approves of the resolutions passed at the meeting of the committee appointed from the conference, provided the borough is able to raise the necessary money . to pay for the same at a reasonable rate • of interest, and subject to its being able to obtain water for the drainage scheme c at a fair and equitable price." The City Council, he said, wanted them to enter into an obligation under seal. They must, therefore, protect themselves. Mr. Hooton: I have much pleasure in j seconding the motion. Mr. Tunks: We do quite right to protect ourselves over the water question. Mr. Midgley Taylor h.nted that the water supply might not be adequate, and i ( under such circumstances they would

look very foolish unless properly protected. Air. Hudson thought they were quite right in adopting the resolutions adopted by the conference. They could only undertake this by imposing extra ra.su. He was glad, therefore, to find the Mayor's estimates bringing it well within the limit, as an extra rate of 1/2 was not to be considered excessive. Many people had been afraid that it ■would be nearer 3/. The motion was carried. The Mayor next moved: "That this Council is of the opinion that the most efficient and economic method of carrying out this scheme is by the amalgamation of local bodies into a Greater Auckland, provided that the basis of amalgamation is submitted for further consideration." Mr. Tunks seconded the motion, and said he regarded the conferences held as most instructive, and he was convinced the best way to carry out the scheme was by the amalgamation of these districts. Mr. Potter moved as an amendment: "That the question be deferred until the drainage question is settled." After that problem was disposed of, the time would be opportune to consider a Greater Auckland scheme. Mr. Warnock seconded the amendment, and thought they should have called a special meeting to consider the question. Mr. Ross said they were all "children of the City of Auckland," and should join with Auckland from Waitemata to Manukau. Mr. Grudge said they should not act | like children; there was plenty of time ! to settle the Greater Auckland question I when they had been educated up to it. Mr. Hudson, in supporting the motion. ! said that one of the strongest reasons | Mt. Eden had for joining Greater Attck- | land was that they would then be in j possession of an efficient water supply. The Mayor said that if the position I was not affirmed by Mt. Eden, he would i have no further place in the delibera- j tions of the conference, which meant that I the borough would be without repre- i sentation. The motion in favour of a Greater ' Auckland was carried, three Councillors dissenting.