NO AUTHORITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 120, 24 May 1939, Page 6

NO AUTHORITY.

TO REMIT FEES.

COUNTY COUNCIL'S VIEW.

FARMERS' LORRIES PROBLEM. (From Oar Correspondent.) DUNEDIN, Tuesday. A curious position has arisen with respect to the liability of farmers' lorries to pay heavy traffic licenses to local authorities. For some time past farmers' organisations have been agitating for the exemption of trucks and lorries used solely for farm purposes from the provisions of the Act relating to heavy traffic licenses. The Government was asked to abolish such fees with respect to farmers' vehicles. Recently, the Minister of Transport, the Hon. R. Semple, advised the Dominion executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union that the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, would not agree to such a course, so that as the law stood at present farmers were equally liable with other owners of heavy vehicles. Mr. Semple explained, however, that the Government had instructed local authorities that the question of collection of heavy traffic fees on bona fide farmers' vehicles would be left to their discretion and that the Government would not interfere in any way. The responsibility wae thus placed on local bodies to give what relief they saw fit to farmers' trucks or lorries used for the purpose of carting their own produce. Farmers have expected results from this announcement by the Minister, but to date there has been little evidence of inclination on the part of local bodies in Otago to remit fees payable by landholders. A member of the Otago County Council said to-day that his council was quite willing to make the concession suggested by the Minister, but in the absence of any definite instruction from the Government it hesitated to do so. As a local body it had had no direct communication from the Department and its knowledge of the position was derived entirely from published references to it. It was feared that if fees were remitted to all farmer owners in the county the Audit Department would raise the question when the county accounts come up for inspection and probably refuse to sanction it. •

Asked if there had been any reference to the matter by the Audit Department so far, he said that he had heard of no case in which the point had been raised, but he knew that the same situation had arisen in other counties where councils considered that some more official announcement of the arrangement might have been made.