More Money Needed For Transport Plan

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31413, 5 July 1967, Page 10

More Money Needed For Transport Plan

General town planning and traffic planning expenditure could not continue to be met from the levy of l/50d in the £ on the capital value of the region, the National Roads Board’s subsidy and the reserve created from arrears of subsidy, the Christchurch Regional Planning Authority was told yesterday.

A case could be made for an additional grant from the Roads Board, possibly retrospectively. The authority agreed to ask for this as well as £2500 estimated as the cost of a landscape consultant for proposed motorways.

The levy on local bodies was again fixed at l/50th in the £ of capital value, and they were asked for a supplementary levy of up to l/300d in the £ to meet further costs of developing the transport plan. The general planning expenditure for the current year was estimated at £25,113, £3343 over last year’s estimate, with the major item being salaries, up from £15,392 to £18,850. On traffic planning, the estimate was £15,212, which was £4350 more than last year. If the expenditure was met in the normal way there would have to be a £7685 call on reserves. The alternative was to seek additional sources of finance, leaving the reserve about its present figure of £9795. If the Roads Board subsidy was increased from 30 per cent to 40 per cent, a figure in line with the percentage of work on motorways, and it agreed to grant £2500 for a landscape consultant, councils would have to meet £4638.

A table gave the contributions of the local bodies as: Christchurch city, £16,736 and £2789 for the additional transport plan contribution; Riccarton borough, £9BO, £164; Kaiapol borough, £258, £43; Waimari county, £5911, £985; Heathcote county, £905, £151; Halswell county (part), £385, £64; Paparua county (part), £1939, £323; Eyre county (part,) £264, £44. ' Must Make Call

"The stage has now been reached where we must call on the councils for something,” the chairman (Mr E. J. Bradshaw) said. Mr G. D. Hattaway (City council) said that in the present economic conditions the authority should “put the brake on,” and perhaps have some delay; but Mr Bradshaw said that at the planning stage, which was where the master transport plan still was “putting on the brake” could only mean a reduction of staff.

“The estimates are at least two months too late for the councils to make provision for the levy,” Mr D. B. Rich (Waimairi) said. “The Budget is designed to maintain a reserve. If the levy is not struck this year the authority will be able to manage.” He suggested that there should be no levy this year, and that it be raised in time for councils to consider it at their estimates time next year. Waimairi, he said, had fixed its rates and estimates and no provision had been made for the extra contribution.

The practice for years had been for town clerks and county clerks to get in touch with the secretaries of ad hoc local bodies which made levies and get information on the likely amount on an unofficial basis, Mr Bradshaw said. The Waimairi county clerk had made inquiries at an early stage and had been told that the levy was likely to be increased by the amount mentioned. In the future the authority should try to have its esti-

mates out earlier so that .the contributing local bodies did not have to rely on the bush telegraph, which was notoriously unreliable. Commander H. J. A. Lynch (Halswell) said.

Accountancy work was done by the City Council’s treasury, and it could not be expected to give priority to the authority’s work when it was busy with the council’s own estimates, Mr Bradshaw said. The information was given at the earliest possible date. The decision to ask for the extra levy was made by a narrow majority.