Election may delay hearing

Press, 12 August 1980, Page 6

Election may delay hearing

Town planning hearings on the Waimairi ' coastal landfill site may be delayed until after the local authority elections in October. Cr I. Calvert, chairman of the'Waimairi County Council’s town planning committee, recommended that the; hearing be held after the elections, at a meeting of the finance and by-laws committee last evening. Cr E. L. Bonisch said the hearings sub-committee had to consider three main issues. These were the rehearing of the Redwood refuse transfer station, changes to the district scheme ' concerning rural : land use, and the Waimairi coastal landfill site. Cr Calvert said the council had received a legal opinion that the landfill hearing would have to be , started again if it was .not finished within the life of the present council. It could not be carried over into the' new council. 1 He said as many as 700 1 people could speak at the 1 landfill hearing which could take more than 100 hours. : Cr Calvert said he be- <

lieved it would be better: if the hearing could be finished before the elections, which would avoid politicisation of the issue. The County Chairman (Mr D. B. Rich) questioned whether the legal opinion was* correct*. He said.'other matters had been carried over an election in the past. Members of the hearing subcommittee should not make an election stand on the issue, because that would be pre-judging it. Cr Bonisch said irrespective of whether the legal opinion was correct, it wasi “absolutely and utterly " impossible” for the hearing sub- ' committee to consider the! matter before the election.! “That is not allowing for the] fact that all the . decisions > would have to be made in haste, which 1 have always inveighed against strongly,” he said. The committee passed a recommendation that the council staff fix a date for the landfill site hearing, after the local authority elections. It also took urgency on a recommendation that council

staff set a date for the hearing on changes on rural land use in the district, scheme and notify objectors. Wards costly - Abolition of eight of Waimairi County’s nine separate ward accounts would save $16,000 a year, Cr W. T. Rice told the meeting. In a report on a common rate for the whole county, Cr Rice said that all the county’s ratepayers would benefit. Separate ward accounts were expensive and time wasting. He said the proposal would result in maximum efficiency, cost savings and better financial planning. ' ■ I From a total rate levy of nearly $4.3 million. 63.5 per: cent was absorbed in admin-' istration expenditure, said Cr< Rice. Only 8.25 per cent was, spent in new works. Mr Rice said that adminis-’ tfative costs would soon es-j :alate if the scheme was ad-j jpted.. Control by riding! nembers and scrutiny of rid- j hg finances would be lost' mder the scheme. . !

Several, councillors .'questioned the figures quoted in tire report. Cr J. Russ said the-’figures were "tailored” to suit Cr Rice. He said the i scheme, was an attempt to ; introduce amalgamation in ■ the county. “I‘think it is a i last ditch attempt to raise ! this issue. Cr Rice won’t • ■ recognise that he is flogging i'a dead horse that .is past the , glue factory.” i Cr - Bonis'ch gaid it .was a ; fallacy that a common rate ■ could be applied over a [diverse area. In Fendalton riding little was needed in the way of capital works, and only maintenance was required. But matters were “entirely different” in neighbouring Avonhead. •. L f' The County Clerk (Mr J. Reid) said the quoted figures gave the wrong impression. The 63.5 per cent of rates that went in administrative - expenditure went on general administration which includ--ed some works. “The implication ,of the figure is that a lot of monev ' is wasted and that little of. the. ratepayers’ money goes in works. That is wrong,” said Mr Rich.