FORMATION OF BOROUGH.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 104, 4 May 1922, Page 8

FORMATION OF BOROUGH.

THE PAFATOETOE PROPOSAI-S. FROM FARMERS. NKLD OF SANITARY DEPOT. l-'uil consideration of the advantages ami disadvantages of forming a borough' at l'.-ipatoeto« took place last evening at the. local town hall, -Mr. Arthur W. Hall, presiding over an attendance of about i.'ii) residents. In his opening remarks the oainrmi stated that many misleading statements were circulating in the district. It was not so much the statue of a borough that was desired, though thie opinion seemed to be held by some ratepayers; b-jt what was necessary was to have fixed the permanent boundaries, wf Papatoetoe, the natural centre of' almost the Whole of the proposed area, j Opposing the proposal to form a bor- , oug'.i, Mr. Wesley Firth stated that for 102H counties in New Zealand received £4.41 rates on a capital value of £1000, whereas boroughs received £10.37. Counties received lees than onev«ixth of their general rates in special rates, while boroughs more in general than in special rates. The majority of boroughs were rated on unimproved values, whereas im the case of counties the majority rated on the capital value. Mr. F. M. Waters said that, while rates in the town district 'had risen more thin fifty per cent during the lost few years, the county rates juet outside the boundaries were practically unaltered. Mr. Hodge staed that on Puhinui Road there were four farms which would be rated at from 15/ to fl an acre if included -in the borough and they would have to pay from one-fifth to of the total rates. Respecting a rumour that borough councils could rate up to 3d in the £, the chairman said that the upper limit was 2d in the case of boroughs and in, the case of county councils it was 3d, except when there were road boards in the county area making a dual control. In that case the maximum was Ud. The Town Board was emphatically opposed I to rating on unimproved values, and the) formation of a borough would even fur , t'her alienate any desire to support thib, system. ! Great importance attached to the in- j auguration of a sanitary service, explained the chairman, and with a view, to overcoming this difficulty an endea-, vo-ur had been made to incorporate a wide area within the proposed boundar-1 ies. An effort had been made to co-j operate with Papakura and Manuxewa and establish a central depot for the three districts, but the nroposal was op-! posed by the Manurewa local body, be-; cause it seemed likely that a depot! ■would be provided near their district. I Mr. Waters explained that the atti-! tude of the Manukau County Council ■was to oppose any suggested dump ifj objections were raised by the ratepayers.! Quite recently the Town Board had' ■been considering a site on the Great South Road, but here difficulty had arisen, due to the lessee of the property 'being engaged in milking cows for town supply. The Rev. C. E. Porter referred to the condition of the ground around the entrance of the school come time ago us being, the reverse of sanitary and Tie said that euoh a condition wae always liable: to Tecur if no provision was made in the interests of sanitation.