REMUERA DISTRICTS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 69, 21 March 1919, Page 8

REMUERA DISTRICTS.

COUNCIL'S EXPENDITURE. STATEMENT RY MAYOR. REPLY TO CRITICISM.

A report dealing with the expenditure in lhe Remuera district and the position 'of the district generally since amalgamation .with the city, and also with regard to the Dilworth recreation ground at Remuera, was submitted to the City Council by the Mayor last evening. The .'report stated: "Tlie council's position i has recently been misrepresented. It i was deemed advisable to reply to these i unfair criticisms by a stntinent which appeared in the daily press. It is pro* I posed to disregard the personal portion of the criticism: but it appears that \ the council would not be warranted in j adopting that attitude in respect of its own administration. The position, therefore, calls for a statement of facts. I The exact fuel with regard to Keiniierm iis tluit unauthorised |.ionii.se-. and | statements were nppnrently made, designed to unduly iniluonce the amnlga- ; illation question. The council ue.'iT ■ approved nnd was not responsible for any such unauthorised undertakings. The council is responsible only for its U'-cepti'd obligations and for 'undertaking-* which are entered into with it-. | authority, or which,'.nude by responsible 'persons. uinv sulKcquiMitly be continue! by it. I With regard to Itennii-ra. all the tin 'dertakings of tlie council have been faithfully discharged. The council never at any time undertook a liability of CIOO.OOO for str-.-ets inipr- vcinent. Auy statement to that etfect, as far a - the council is concerned, is contrary to fact. The council abides by th" terms of the

amalgamation, rthieh are a- follow-*: ,11 The city will accept Item ler.i Road iiHtrict iiM an inte.ral part of the city and there --hail he no separate ware's, Remuera joining with the rest of the "ity iv the election of Mayor and councillors. '21 The city will take over Rcmii.-ra's assets and liabilities, including tin* board's overdraft (or C:tT"s las at .'list December, It'll) and 'he h-iar-I's deficit aud its road construction account lof about LT.OOO as a» -atnc

date). C.l From the dale of union Ileinnerii shall pay exactly the -mil" rates (Including water rates) aud hive the .eiic rating system as in the city, (■li I pon union Remuera shall he entitled as n full partner to all its fair share of all the city assets, endowment--, and reserves. (.**.i Tlie pi*.-scn( minimum of area shall be maintained for build* in.-, in llctiuie,-,i district. Mil It i- th" present councils intention that within one year after the termination of the war a poll lie taken for a loan for road construction throughout the district. the interest for same to be found by the united city. The city engineer, prior to 11)10. furnished no estimates whatever for the Remnera streets, nor was the matter considered. 11l estimatefurnished in 1010, at my request, show that L'lOS.nnO will he required to put the Remuera streets in permanent good order.

Since the amalgamation the council ha* mi-cd a loan of .C'JO.OOO for drain age in the neiiniera district, and in the recent streets improvement loan for the entire city Remii-Ta is included to an amount of tH.i.-ion. This hum ro*ers six imnorfnut streets, anil, irltuittedlv. is a fair allocation. Krom time In ('me a« resources permit other street* will Iv done. The nei-.v-il i,vs .0" am district cannot determine the work< to b" carried on I herein. Such should be determined only by (he necessities plus the conn il's resources and financial ability to put necessary works in hand. It is advir.nblo, in view of (he mte-statem.'nts which have been made, thai the eoune'l -.hoilltl emphatically declare, in order that thermay he no nii-sumb'rdunding. thai the above is nil that l.cnuera inn exp-el in the way of i.ia-i expenditure on streets improvement for the nr»a"iit. At the- same time tlie council will continue to give th.c best attention to that ills triet ns to other |*ortions of tin* eitv from general account. The "nest pus-i!dp bus been done and the council ennnot accent any further suggested liabilities, which obviously do not re-t upon it. It would he financial reekle***-ness for (he council to seek further loan authority from the ratepayers for street- at tin* present time, with tin. cxeootioti, ol course, of Grey I.vnn, for which a poll for einO.nOD 'lies'- previous anthovisations) for street Improvements, etc., "ill shortly be taken in terms of the amalgamation with the city.

The expenditure on general account in Remuera. in accordance with the returns furnished to the council in April. 101 S. has been more than proportionate to the amount received from the di-tri.-t. Any increase in the rates has been the general increase over the whole of (lie city, due to the special rate for interest and the drainage rate over the whol« district licin-i automatically increased, following increased demands from the expenditure of the past. The increase, as far as drninage is concerned would have applied whether amalgamation had taken effect or not. It is my duty to advise the council that it cannot prudently go further, and also to intimate that in pursuance of its present policy the council is meetinjr all obligations upon a fair and equitable basis. As fnr as the Dilworth Recreation firound is concerned, the council may accept the assurance conveyed to mc Initio chairman of the recent deputation of Remuera residents which waited upon (be council and also from the representatives of the sports interest that the police of the council is well understood and deemed to ho reasonable and satisfactory. It must be a matter of extreme regret that the council is called upon to reply to unreasoned and misleading statements, which are designed to damacc the council's administration, particularly when they emanate from quarters where something fairer might reasonably be expected.

Mr. Pnterson moved that the report he adopted. He deprecated the statements that had been -made and -tilted that in his opinion Komiiern had been well treated in comparison with other portions of the city. With regard to the loan that hnd been authorised Remuera was getting one-fifth of this.

Mr. Oempsey seconded the -motion, lip said he had been associated -with the council since the amalgamation and on no occasion had Remuera been neglected. The council, if anything, had been rather inclined to over spend in this district. He pointed out that the capital value of Remuera inst prior to amalga-nation was €2,134.000. Thi-s valuation had increased" since amalgamation to C*2._10.----0110. It appeared to him that the trouble arose from tho extravagant promise-) that had been made whi.'h there »a» no possibility of -fulfilling. He was agreeably -surprised at the way the city bad treated Remnera and thought that no fair-minded ratepayer could find fault with it

Mr. Murray said lie was one of those who had supported the amalgamation

and was proud and pleased at the manner in which the district had been treated. Mr. Can* said, the gentleman who had been responsible for the statements in the Press was also mixed up with Grey Lynn, where similar extravagant proiniscK had been made and not fulfilled. A bigger loan still had been promised for this district 'but it had never inateri- I alir-ed. Mr. Denipsey said in explanation that the terms of amalgamation were never discussed by the Remuera Road Hoard, of which he was chairman.

The Mayor said a copy of the terms of amalgamation had been sent to the board and on this the voting took place. Other speakers supported the motion and the report was adopted unanimously.