County Rates Said To Be Too Low

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31071, 28 May 1966, Page 16

County Rates Said To Be Too Low

Hints were dropped to two North Canterbury counties by the National Roads Board during its tour yesterday that their low rates might stand in the way of their receiving special roading assistance from the board.

When the board met Eyre county representatives, the board’s deputy-chairman (Mr N. B. Hunt) said that the county claimed to have the lowest rates in the country—the equivalent of a penny in the pound on the unimproved value.

“1 suggest you could double your rates, and get more people into the county,” he said. “We have seen big farms. You could double the number. It makes us wonder when we drive for miles without seeing a house.” The county chairman (Mr C. M. Harman) said that the farms were large, but very productive. Whether more would be produced by more farms, he did not know. At Oxford, where the board was told that the council rated at Hd on 1961 valuations, a board member, Mr A. M. Linton. said that the low rating in the area amazed him. He supposed the councils knew what they were doing.

At Eyre, Mr Harman and his deputy-chairman (Mr J. F. Manning) asked for more board help to reinstate roads damaged by log removal from Eyrewell State Forest. Traffic on these roads was 90 per cent for the Forest Service, they said.

Mr Manning said that more than 700,000 tons of logs from Eyrewell had gone over county roads in the last year. From now on, about 80,000 tons a year would go out. Oxford county’s chairman (Mr W. M. Dailey) also asked

for special help to enable the council to expedite sealing. Ashley and Kowai county representatives told the board that they were considering amalgamation. Both sought more money from the board to speed up road sealing and bridge reconstruction. The Director of Roading (Mr J. 11. McKay) told the councillors that if they asked for a board roading-needs survey, it would be arranged.