NORTH CITY?

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 184, 5 August 1936, Page 6

NORTH CITY?

NORTH SHORE AMALGAMATION

A SURVEY OF THE PROBLEM,

(By ERIC H. HALSTEAD.)

The possibility of compulsory amalgamation confronts the Xortli Shore boroughs. If such amalgamation takes place the local authority will be entitled to municipal status.

At a recent meeting of the Takapuna Borough Council it, was decided to call a meeting of all the local authorities concerned to discuss Xortli Shore amalgamation. The proposal its not new; it is as old as the Greater Auckland scheme. When it was first mooted in the pre-war years, the boroughs were on an equal footing in regard to rates, valuation and population. In those days an objection was raised that Birkenhead and Xorthcote were separated from Devonport and Takapuna bv a considerable rural area, not particularly well served with roads. This almost applies to-dav. Hence geographically the Xortli Shore boroughs are separated into two groups —Xorthcote and Birkenhead, on the one hand, and Devonport and Takapuna on the other. Birkenhead and Northcote. Until recent years Takapuna and Devonport have been rivals in a race for development, and local prejudice has prevented any development of a scheme for their union. However, the union 6f Birkenhead and Xorthcote has been within the range of possibility for several years. Amalgamation has often been an election issue in these boroughs, and while the proposal lias boen accepted several times in Birkenhead, it has invariably been rejected in Xorthcote. Birkenhead is the larger and wealthier borough, having an area of 3084 acres, a population »of 3400, and a rateable capital value of £002,000. Xorthcote has an area of 1190 acres, a population of 2500 and a rateable capital value of £013,000. Birkenhead's rate per £1000 capita! value is £11 3/2, while Northcote's is £13 10/5. Birkenhead includes the large ■Chelsea sugar works area, the rates of which are paid regularly and promptly —an important consideration in local finance. Birkenhead could easily absorb Xorthcote. Xorthcote has realised this and has been jealous of its local control. It has been the more progressive borough, although the smaller. It has the only available reserves and parks, and against Birkenhead's bitumen highways, the upkeep of which is costly, it boasts concrete highways. Xorthcote has also argued that upon amalgamation there would be no compensation for the reduction of the Government subsidy and the Main Highways Board subsidy, although it might receive additional income from petrol tax. Although union would be in the best interests of the two boroughs, it seems that local inability to foresee ultimate development, stands in the way.

Four Common Interests. To-day the four North Shore boroughs have four interests in common—electric power, water supply, drainage and transport. The power question ha* been settled by the establishment of the Waitemata Power Board to provide power in tho North Shore region, inclusive of the Waitemata County beyond. The water supply is in a most unsatisfactory position. Devonport and Takapuna use the questionable and inadequate supply of Lake Pupuke. This source was oncc a good supply when the lake was in a rural area, but the area has become a suburb. Xorthcote, while using Takapuna' water, has been boring for its own. Birkenhead has purchased city water, with which it is served by a pipe line across the Waitemata sea bed. The metropolitan drainage engineer, in a report on the North Shore, recommended that the drainage of the whole region should he collected and directed into the Hauraki Gulf. At present the boroughs have their own drainage arrangements, three of them draining into the harbour. There is urgent need for common action in this direction.

The transport problem has been partly solved by the Devon port Steam Ferry Company and subsidiary companies providing' ferries and motor transport for the region. There is still the question of the Harbour Bridge, in which the North Shore is vitally interested. By common consent, the boroughs concerned have given a company power to act, but the company, without guarantees from either the Government or the City Council, has been unable to raise the necessary money. There is no doubt that the North Shore's problems must lead eventually to some form of union, or at least to the establishment of regional "ad hoc'' authorities. Local autonomy is in many respects desirable, especially in semi-developed areas. The boroughs could surrender their control over matters in which they were all interested to a co-ordinating authority with full authority in the region, and at the same time maintain their own identity and administer purely local affairs. The Government apparently prefers amalgamation 011 the ward system. It should prove an interesting experiment.