VICTORIA WHARF

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLI, Issue 5968, 6 June 1913, Page 6

VICTORIA WHARF

I (JLtj'i'lUN OF PLKCIIASh'. i | 11AU13OLU IiOAKI.) UL-X-LlN-j KS TO KXCEED OKKKR OK i X-VMK | Mr \\. .1. Gray has submit- \ tod a report to the Tauranga I llaroour Board on tin* \ ictor- ! la Wharf, which wa> read at the meeting ni the Board on W cdnpsday. as under :•-- '"Question 1 : —The actual wiluc of the structure as at present time ? I understand you havt.- made au offer, vide jiay of Plenty Times April 7th, L.)()() to tlui present owners, arid I am strongly ot opinion thai tlii.-s is quite as much as it is wort}). '■Question *J :~-The exponditure necessary, if any, to enable it to stand its present use and wear for six years from now ( I presume accidents and casualties excepted ?)---" In its present state there is a danger ol a heavy vessel bumping- into it and toppling the lot over. I would recommend : The removal <>f the shed, with its dead load of from 35 to 10 tons of coal ; this portion is now sinking and will either break off from or take the other portion with it; putting; in 21 long braces of Din by 4in totara on the. piles, as many of the present braces want, renewing and are of little value to stand against shocks of any kind : repair the decking around and under where (he shed now stands. The cost of this work would b« about .CSO. If this is done it is likely to carry timber and rattle for the time mentioned. "Question 3 :—C en orally as to its present condition and length of life until further expenditure is necessary—lts present condition is bad and at six years* from now my opinion is that it will require, to be rebuilt, further repairs being useless/ The Town Clerk forwarded a statement .showing the financial working of the Victoria Wharf since the same has been owned by tht Borough Council. He. stated : "From it you will see that the balance which has been appropriated by the Town Wharf and therefore the justice of the Council's claim for a substantial consideration in the matter of the price your Board should pay for the wharf" The statement showed (I) The. relation of the Victoria Wharf to the general wharf fund from June 1, IS9O, date of purchase., to March 31, 191 3, balance due £973 3* lOcl. ("2) The amount of the indebtedness of the wharves account to the general account of the borough for interest, balamot due £'M')ti 7s 3d. (3) An account of the loan of ISS9, of which £400 was expended upon the Town Wharf to liquidate an old liability of 187s, showing balance due. by the Harbour hoard £hS(i J3s id. Total indebtedness £J.V2(> Is .3d. The Chairman (Mr Davidson) read a report prepared.by him on the subject, as follows :-— "Upon several previous occasions J have. freely admitted that the Tauranga Borough Council have administered the a(Jaii-s of the harbour in an efficient and generous manner, and 1 do not now retract that statement. The accounts, however, now presented, appear .to me to be of a most surprising nature, and to be a burlesque upon book-keeping. As far as 1 can see they have been compiled purely from recollections of what occurred in the past, surmises of the earnings of the two wharves, with no delta of facts to back them tip, and are consequently of little value as the foundation of a business transaction. Allow me to review the position as it appears to me. briefly. The Tauranga Borough Council, acting : in its dual capacity as local authority controlling harbour— shortly L.A.C.H.-purchased I Victoria Wharf, charging the | purchase money not to the Bor- ; ough fund account, but to the wharf account. J understand the, Borough Council lent the sum ' required to its other person, L.A.C.H., but recouped itself from the revenue accruing from Town and Victoria Wharves, no separate account beintc kept of money collected from each wharf. Is this not dear cvi- ! dence that the purchase was made not on Borough account, but for L.A.C.11. The monetary assistance atterwards repaid ! was granted, T presume, be- j cause the Borough Council, at ! the time, considered it to be in : the interests () f the Tauranga Borough to do so. cf no int'T- , •st were charged to the wharf account we may pi'^iimc it

was either a lactic or evidence oi generosity on the part of the i Council side of the dual body. ). then-tore, hold that the. Bor- \ otigh Council have no just claim on this -svliart'. Their actions and methods of keeping j accounts in the past show conclusively that the property was considered and treated as belonirintr to local authority controlling harbour. The Tnuranga Harbour Board. being now constituted, it follows that this body takes over from L. A.C. H/ | side i)i Horoii.i^l) Council all assets and liabilities. This the Tauranua Harbour Board willing to do. but I maintain that the Borough, having boon repaid the amount of purchase money, and other sums advanced for repairs and extensions, cannot claim to be paid a second time. The Taurangn County Council have consciously or unconsciously accepted this method by handing oxer to the Harbour Board all wharves, etc. controlled by the L.A.C.H. side of that body without payment. I willingly accept the statement that the Borough Council have done things they ought not to have done, and j left undone things they ought | to have done, and as they expect monetary consideration tor their omissions and commissions —although it is open to argument that previous Councils may have been actuated by a different spirit to that now shown, and may have done these things -with a full knowledge of what they were doing — J suggest that this Board | ask the Borough Council for a detailed account, showing the amounts and dates of the var.i- ---| ous sums advanced by the ; Borough Council to the whart account, and the amount of simple interest due thereon. As an act of grace and if our solicitor advises the payment would not be against the law. I am inclined to tin* opinion 1 that this Board should repay the Borough Council any interest that has not been charged to wharf account." Mr Stuart .said he did not agree with the Chahman's re- ! port. The wharf had been bought from a private Individual by; the Borough Council. Mr Attains said the Borough submitted three separate statements. In referring to ihe statement re the loan o: £100 he i •said the interest and sinkiii<>fund was paid by ihe borough for a period of lif years. Some years ago the Council decided that the amount due by th« [ wharves should be repaid by a fixed amount per annum, and there were still two payments duo. The accounts for the two wharves lia/d not been kept s.epi arate because; of the cost which such a system would have entailed. The balance of .€973 .'ls lUd was not a claim, but was | a vindication of the Borough's j I original claim of £900. He pro- | dueed copies of the Borough's I balance-sheet i'or; many years in j support of the accounts. He ! thought any commissioner would admit thai the statej ments submitted bvj the Bor- | otigh were valid statements. I The Borough did no-t even ask for the interest, but av^ked £900 ( for the wharf, only half of what they had shown they were entitled to. He asked that the matter be amicably settled instead of referring it to arbitration. Mr Gill .said t-.he Board had nothing to do with the old accounts. They should take the structure at its face value. Ho moved—That the Board's former offer of :£SOO for the .Victoria Wharf, be renewed. Mr Stewart thought it would be better to let the Borough Council k^ep ihe wharf.. Mr Sou they agreed with Mr CJill. Jt was a question of what the wharf was worth now-. He did not ,<(■!] that they had anything to, do with old accounts. They slum Id not pay any more tor the .structure than it was worth. Mr Adajms contended that the old aocounts entered into the. matter, and could not bo waived. Th«; Borough Council could not keep the wharf, as an impossible position would be created. Mr Stuartl said .it was unfortunate that' the Borough's j j statement wris not put in at the proper time. The whole! thing had no;; been done in a businesslike vuiy. Had the statement Ix^n submitted at \ the outset he beFjeved the Bor- j ough's claim, 'would have been ; readily admittud^ j Mr Grant \yas not prepared \ t<> give £500 for the wharf | now. The accounts -were made , np to squeez* 1 '.more money out |of the IV>ard., The Tauran^a , Harbour 'Act said the Board | 1 "may ' take o\ it wharves, etc... j (Continued oil' jvu;«* ".) j