CITY AMALGAMATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 76, 31 March 1913, Page 8

CITY AMALGAMATION.

A REMUERA OBJECTION. SIMPLE TECHNICALITY RAISED. A tst-hriical objection to the proposed amalgamation of Remuera. with the city has been forwarded lo Wellington oy v few residents of the former district. It is based on a provision of the Municipal ■Corporations Act- to the effect that a tity may not amalgamate with a road district, a county, or a portion of either, if the combined area is greater than nine miles square, or cannot be entirely circumscribed by n circle *ix miles in dia- J meter. Curiously enough the Act permits the amalgamation of any imm'ber of borough.* with a city, without stipulation concerning -area limitation. This, in the upinion of the Mayor (Mr. C- JParr) i> J distinct anomaiy arising out of an oversight .by the legislature when the Act. was passed. Apart from this, however, the abjection is considered unlikely to hold. The City Engineer has asvertained that the combined area of '.he eitv and Remuera is mm*h less than nine miles. Mr. Bush is further of opinion that tiie distance from the most westerly point in Ponsnnby to the eastern near the Ellerslie racecourse would !;"e six miles or thereabouts. He estimat.es tTrat at most a small area of live a'Tes would be outside this limit. The Mayor point-* out that power to exclude this slkrht .area is conferred by section 1 IS in of the IM'.nicipal Corporations Act. and. as the Oe acre 3 are unoccupied land, no diSku'.ty should be experienced in this eoni.-ec.tion. These facts are being communicated to the Minister by the committee which is furthering the amalgamation project.