UNANIMOUS SUPPORT

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 98, 19 January 1935, Page 4

UNANIMOUS SUPPORT

The New Paremata Bridge Scheme POLL ON FEBRUARY 13 Unanimous support for the new proposals for the Paremata bridge was voiced by Councillors at the meeting of the Hutt County Council yesterday. “No ratepayer of the Taupo Riding who understands the position will vote against this proposal,” said the chair-, njan, Mr. D. R. Hoggard. “It is now nearly three decades since the agitation commenced for a bridge to shorten the distance to Plimmerton, and during that period constant efforts have been made, which have all proved futile. If an appraisement could be made of the amount of effort which councillors and others during that period have expended in the endeavour to secure a bridge the aggregate would be staggering. I am afraid to think of the amount of time that I have devoted to the matter, and for every hour that I have devoted to it I am sure that Councillor R. L. Button has spent ten, to say nothing of the amount of work which his and my predecessors in office have put into the matter. Present Proposal Better. “The proposal for a toll bridge was not one which the council regarded as the best,” continued Mr. Hoggard. “The toll bridge idea was forced upon the council owing to the Government’s unwillingness to give a subsidy. I greatly regret that the offer of a subsidy was not made earlier, in which event no toll would ever have been proposed. The present proposal is so much better than the toll bridge proposal that it seems perhaps unnecessary to refer to its advantages. The toll bridge and road would have involved a loan of £15,000. The present proposal involves one of only £7OOO. The toll bridge proposal meant that tli» access road into Plimmerton would be a mere by-road, maintained wholly at the ex'pense of the riding. The new proposal means that that access road will be a main highway, the maintenance of which wilt be shared between the riding and the Main Highways Board, the riding’s share being one-fourth only. The toll bridge proposal was for a wooden bridge carrying comparatively high maintenance costs. The new proposal is for a concrete bridge with minimum maintenance costs. The toll bridge proposal involved the payment of wages to a toll-keeper or toll-keepers, and the new proposal entirely eliminates such expense. “The toll bridge proposal would always carry the risk of a motorists’ boycott, in which event the interest and sinking fund and cost of maintenance would have been a charge upon the ratepayers of Taupo riding,” continued the chairman. “The council has already incurred preliminary expenses in connection with tli<s previous loan poll, and there will be expenses in connection with the present loan poll. If the loan poll is defeated these preliminary expenses would have to be defrayed out of rates, and the general rate of the Taupo riding would be raised for the purpose. It is ludicrous to suppose that other ridings would consent to these expenses being paid out of the general account. The general account has already had to bear a great deal of expense in connection with this scheme inasmuch as the officers of the council, whose salaries are a charge against the general account, have given more than a fair share of their time to the scheme. Trifling Cost to Ratepayers. “If the loan poll is carried the ratepayers of the Taupo riding will be very fortunate indeed. The cost to individual ratepayers will be trifling: 244 ratepayers will pay less than 5/- per annum, 137 will pay between 5/- and 10/-, 118 will pay between 10/- and 20/-, 26 will pay between 20/- and 30/-, 8 will pay between 30/- and 40/- and 21 will pay over £2. “Those ratepayers who own motorcars will save much more in tolls than they spend in rates. Those ratepayers who do not own motor-cars will benefit by the increase in value which their properties w’ill derive from the toll-free bridge.” Cr. Button said he hud discussed the new proposals with ratepayers, and on all sides they fully appreciated the proposal of the Main Highways Board to secure a ferro-concrete bridge. There w’as no doubt as to the result of the poll. Other councillors spoke in support of the new scheme.