GEAR ISLAND COMMISSION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 84, 6 October 1909, Page 8

GEAR ISLAND COMMISSION.

LOCAL BODIES' RIVAL CLAIMS. In the Hutt County Council Chambers to-day, the L4ear Island Commission was resumed, under the presidency of the Commissioner, Mr. Short, of the RoadsBranch of the Agricultural Department. H. E. Carey, secretary to the Riverside Dairy Company, whose lease of Gear Island expired on 10th September, 1908, deposed to having been interviewed by a person, who requested him to sign a petition about the transfer of Gear Island from the county to a borough. Witness signed the petition, either from misrepresentation on the part of the canvasser, or through a misunderstanding on his own part. He would prefer to see Gear Island included in the Hutt Borough ' rather than the Petone Borough. The new bridge would have been an absolute disadvantage to Gear Island for farming purposes. To Mr. Bunny : There was no reasonable prospect of Gear Island being cut up and settled in small sections. Mr. Kirk : Would the extension of Jackson-street and the erection of a new bridge improve Gear Island as an industrial centre ? Witness : Not without the present northern (Lower Hutt) entrance. The next witness, Mr. Hugh Pollen, Under-Secretary for Internal Affairs, said it was not intended to include m Petone more than what was on the main land. No part of Gear Island was intended to be dealt with. It was .assumed that section ten did not cross the channel of the river at all. Mr. Bunny asked witness whether a counter petition was lodged to the original petition. * Mr. Pollen : Yes, but it could not be acted upon, as it was quite useless. There was a tatal objection to the petition at the commencement, so that it was no use enquiring into it. Another witness, Mr. T. W. M'Donald, ex-Mayor of the Lower Hutt Borough, gave his opinion that the Hutt Borough could more ea.sily supply water to Gear Island than Petone could. . The reservoir was capable of supplying 30,000 people — ten times its present population. Witness saw no difficulty whatever in supplying Gear Island with gas from Lower Hutt, especially in view of the fact that the mains were laid down Whites-line, which street infringed upon the property in dispute. As regards drainage, Lower Hutt offered greater facilities than Petone. It would be a great advantage to include Gear Island in Lower Hutt Borough. The island was really owneU by the Hutt people, who had expended a large amount of money on its protection, and better access was afforded by the Lower Hutt Borough. Petone's real aim was to obtain possession of the J whole of the south-eastb/n Hutt. The object of Petone in expending its money oii the new bridge was to give access to tha bays. W. H. Morton, City Engineer, in his evidence remarked that the construction of the new bridge would lead to the development of Gear Island together with the south-eastern portion of tho Lower Hutt. He considered the island should be attached to Petone, with which borough it would be brought more closely into contact. To Mr. Bunny : Amalgamation of the two boroughs would be the best way of settling the question. The proposed high embankment would not be disadvantageous to the island. The chairman of the River Board (Mr. Robert Stevens) gave evidence as to the expenditure by the board of large sums of money in the protection of the island from the Hood waters of the river. He described the action of the Petone Borough in seeking to annex the island, as the most impudent attempt he had ever seen on the part of any local body in connection with municipal politics. Mr. Welsh, chairman of the Hutt County Council : Why is the Hutt Borough coveting Gear Island — the Hutt County Council's territory? Mr. Martin : The loyalty of Lower Hutt residents is most refreshing. To Mr. Bunny: Ihe solution of the difficulty was amalgamation. The Hutt River Board would have no objection to Gear Island being annexed by the amalgamated district. (Proceeding.)