WATER SUPPLY

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 296, 13 September 1927, Page 10

WATER SUPPLY

WHY CITY WANTS CONTROL MORE ECONOMICAL ' . FINANCE MAYOR SHOULD BE CHAIRMAN OF BOARD The reasons why the Wellington City Council thinks it necessary to have control of the proposed board to deal >vith the combined water supply schema are contained in the following letter from the town clerk, which was read at last night’s meeting of the Petone Borough Council: “The Wellington City Council met in committee and considered the resolutions carried at the conference of local bodies. The whole matter was gone into, and I am instructed by the council to forward to you the collowing reso.utions carried unanimously at the meeting, which set forth the full position: “In the opinion of this council an independent board is inadvisable for the ’oilowing reasons

“(A) It will be expensive to operate, as it -wilj, require a set of independent officers. “(B) The multiplication of boards is not advantageous to local government. “(C) In spite of anything that can be alleged to the contrary, the Highways Board with a similar constitu- ” tion, has,, through the Wellington City Council, been able to carry out work that otherwise would have been impossible. 'YD) The Wellington City Council can arrange for finance much more economically with regard to loans or temporary advances. “(E) The fact that finance and accounts connected therewith are kept

separate, safeguards . sufficiently the independence of the scheme.

'Tn the opinion of this council the representation set out in the Bill should bo adhered to for the following reasons: While representation should ordinarily be in proportion to the financial responsibility carried by each contributing body, in the Bill as drafted, provision, has been made to give fifty per cent, representation on the board to these local -bodies which between them will only contribute twenty per cent, of the finance. In view of the. large finan-. cial interests of the Wellington City Council (80 per cent.) in order to ensure the practical success of the scheme for the future development of the city, the Citv Council .is definitely ,of the opinion that' the Mayor of Wellington should always be chairman of the board; further, if the staff employed to carry out the work be the staff of the Wellington City Council, then it is absolutely necessary that one controlling head should -direct both operations of the city and any' waterworks schemes. 'Tinder the Bill . the • Wellington City Corporation makes .itself responsible tor the repayment of the loans borrowed. The council is willing-to concede- the modifications of the Bill agreed on between -the.- city. solicitor._anfl the solicitors of the Petone and Lower Hutt Borough Councils.” ■ .1 Constitution the Difficulty. The Mayor of Petone (Mr. D. McKen«ie) said that the. constitution of the proposed- board seemed to be the difficulty. The hope was that there would be another conference amongst the local bodies. , ~ , . ,\- “It would be a great mistake to let the scheme drop,” added the Mayor, “because if carried out it would be a great improvement to. the borough. Councillor Scholefield stated that the first essential thing was the establisiiment of the board itself. After that other matters would, automatically ■follow. As for the other contentious mat-'-ters f - they could be presented before The Bills Committee. "Anyhow,” he added, "I do not think we should be prepared to sacrifice the scheme which will benefit Petone simply on account of the City Council having the casting vote. Councillor Longman: Anyway, for that matter we need not bother about it. We have plenty of water here as Councillor Scholefield: Have we ? Well, vou had better see you don t drink it all to-night. (Laughter.) Another Conference. Councillor Jacobson said the best thing to do would be to call, another conference amongst the local bodies concerned so that the whole thing could be-further discussed. This suggestion was eventually arced to, it being decided to call a conference as soon as possible.