DEFENCE AND THE RATES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 269, 12 November 1937, Page 6

DEFENCE AND THE RATES.

Devonport has a genuine grievance in the whittling down of its rateable area by the recent extension of the Naval Base within the borough without compensation to the remaining ratepayers. Recent additions to the base have reduced the borough's revenue from rates by £200 a year, and it is suggested by the Council that to compensate for this the' Defence Department should undertake street works of a capital nature equivalent in interest costs to the lost revenue. The claim is a fair one, especially as it is suggested that the work should take the form of permanently paving , Queen's Parade, a road which is greatly used by the Navy traffic to and from the base. The borough, which is limited in size, has for long lost revenue from the North Head and the y auxhall Defence Depot, and further limitation necessarily affects its annual budget. There is no analogy between this loss and thdt of cities in which State offices are free from rates. In those cases the officers using the building are direct contributors both to _ rates and to business in the city itself. That is not the case at Devonport; supplies for the ships ar# not bought in the borough, and very few of those employed at the base pay rates. The |case for .special treatment for Devonport is I therefore a strong one.