STRANGLE HOLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 21, 26 January 1939, Page 5

STRANGLE HOLD.

BIG LOSS OF RATES. NAVAL AND ARMY BASES. DEVONPORT'S DIFFICULTY. "The octopus grip that the defence and naval departments have on this borough is strangling it, and until they go it will not progress," declared Mr. G. H. Minchin, who last Night led a deputation to the Devonport Borough Council to complain of the dust nuisance caused by traffic on the unsealed Queen's Parade, which runs from the ferry wharves to the naval base. "Most of this traffic goes to the naval base, which pays not one penny towards the upkeep of the road,'' he said. "For years the big lorries have been running along it. sending the dust into the housesalong the route. The prevailing wind is from the west and when it blows in the slightest gusts tlie dust is raised. "Queen's Parade must l>e sealed or concreted if the houses tliere are to be habitable. The difficulties residents live under are immense. Their carpets and curtains are ruined and they are compelled to keep their window's shut day and night." - Mr. Mini-liin emphasised that the Naval Department pa id nothing into borough funds, although it was constantly using the road. The position was the same with the Defence Department. which had its barracks and training camp in the borough, but did not pay rates. He suggested that the borough would be well rid of both bases, which caused an annual loss of £2~>oo a year in rates, and suggested that the council should raise the matter with the Government. Meantime, he hoped the borough would do something to alleviate the plight of Queen's Parade residents. Other members of the deputation endorsed these opinions. One woman stated that she was compelled to clean out her safe four times a day. She did not exaggerate in the slightest, she said, when she condemned many of the lious«s as uninhabitable and unhygienic as a result of the dust nuisance.

Assuring the deputation that the engineer would investigate and endeavour to relive the position, the Mavor, Mr. H. F. W. Meikle, said the Minister of Defence had promised some redress and the matter had been in hand for some months. The deputation's outcry would be a lever to raise the question again. The sealing of the road would cost about £000— £1200 if it was done properly. Since about £3000 a year in rates was lost on Government property, it was the Government's duty to do something, and the council would press to that end.