THE BIG LOAN

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 38, 13 August 1920, Page 4

THE BIG LOAN

MAYOR EXPLAINS PROPOSALS

SUPPORTED BY COUNCILLORS

CRITICISM BY RATEPAYERS.

The City Council's loan proposals of 51,708,916, the estimated cost of the ■various undertakings put forward, were explained to a well-attended meeting of ratepayers in the Town Hall last evening by the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke, M.P.) and members of the City Council, which was well represented. The chief officers of the City Council were also on the platform.

... The Mayor, who was received wjth applause, spoke at length, giving an account of the stewardship of the city during the past decade, and showing what had been done practically without borrowing. He traversed in detail the works which had been carried out for the improvement of the city, but urged that many ■ other works had become absolutely necessary through the growtfyof the population and the extension of the boundaries of the city, The policy of works out of revenue did not suffice to-day. The Mayor referred to the soundness of the policy of street widening in the.case of Willis-street, Aitken-street, Adelaideroacl, etc. 'The cost had been £251,000, while the receipts from proceeds of sale were £33,000, and the value of the property amounted to £125,000, leaving a net cost of £73,000, which itself would b? reduced by new valuation. There had been no loan since the Wainui duplication ten years ago—an amount of £100,000—except the loan for the milk supply scheme, which he thought would be considered one of the best things the city had done, and he would like to compliment Councillor Norwood and his colleagues on their success. (Applause.) Next the Mayor alluded briefly to the housing scheme of the municipality. The houses could be sold outright at a profit, but they were to be sold by ballot on the deferred payment system. Various tramway improvements were enumerated, including the Cra.wford-street extension and the new tramsneds at Kilbimie. There were also the> new road at Brooklyn, the new fire brigade station at Wellington South, and the various recreation ■ grounds acquired and improved — all Without loans. As regarded the tramways, the Mayor mentioned the loss on the Birmingham tramways of £280,000 last year, which' necessitated an immediate increase of fares. Out of revenue had been spent £107,567 in improvements, £21,362 had gone to the reserve fund, and on the depreciation fund account ..there was £145,000, a total of £274,000 out of tramway earnings. Electric lighting had prospered. The sum of £47,517 had been spent on improvements out of revenue; £70,000 was deposited with the bank at 4 per .cent, and £50,000 with the district fund at the same per cent. The present rates, said the Mayor, were 2 81-10Od in the £ on unimproved value, 6-7 din £ hospital rate on annual value, and a lighting rate of Ad in the £ annual value lately imposed to raise revenue required, j DETAILED DESCRIPTION. i The Mayor then went into detailed description of the various items of the loan proposals. He took first the water- ' supply scheme, which would double, the present supply and save money on pumping to the higher levels. Referring to the tunnel required to tap the Orongorongo River, the Mayor said it was impossible to get a. satisfactory contract to-day. An alternative was day work, which would lead to constant friction and trouble, and might lend to another Otira Tunnel, which had been in hand fifteen years, and, was not ready to-day. Time with the water supply was the essence of the contract.. Mi". Semple and his party had put forward a proposal which had been dealt with or both sides with perfect candour. The Mayor described the negotiations as-al-ready published. The committee ,had analysed the proposal thoroughly-. A comparison showed that the Orongorongo Tunnel wasi less difficult than the Otira Tunnel. The material was worse at Orongorongo, and the tunnel was smaller Then there was to be-no union and no strike. He believed the party would make good money, but .the. city would get their water quicker. The oity could not do better than.' complete the temporary contract with Mr. Sempie's party. (Hear, hear, and applause.) A voice: "They have a good thing on." The Mayor explained they had put 7£ per cent, to cover the first year's interest. The money would he raised, year by year, and spent economically and faithfully. The council was going to have no money ly,ing idle. TRAMWAY' EXTENSIONS. In regard to traras, the Mayor described the Kelburn-Northland line, which would leave Aro-street, go up Rawa-road, and drop round by the Presbyterian Church, and join the present lin© ju6t outside the Karori Tunnel. It would run through the tunnel and round the hill to Russell's store, Northland. Later on it was hoped to extend the line to Northland and Wilton's Bush. The new line would open up Highbury and Taitville, at present without tramway service, and was of a ruling* grade of 1 in 15—a. strong argument in it? favour. The Mayor described the distance from the Duke of Edinburgh as a mile shorter than the present Karori line. He described also the new tunnel proposal through Mount Victoria, and reiterated his objection to it on the lines of his speech, to the/City Council at the last meeting. He repeated he did not think the time was opportune to carry out the work. The cost was £161,000. Better acoess would be given to Roseneath by x a i lift The Mayor went through the various other, proposals somewhat more elaborately than when the scheme was first laid before the council. The. question was, he said, to endorse the proposals, so, that the work might be carried on as' | expeditiously as possible. He thought the' whole work could be spread.over at least five years. He /had been Mayor for nearly eight years, and he w» glad that most of the proposals he had put forward had been eventually carried out from revenue. He would be perfectly prepared to answer any questions, j l A GENUINE ECONOMY Councillor Luckie strongly supported the proposals, emphasising the fact that the proposals involved a genuine economy in many respects—and the works would pay for themselves to a. large extent. He point&d out, for instance, that the Basin- Reserve could be made a, highly profitable source of revenue by means of a vproper pavilion to accommodate, the. public. The revenue from this would accrue to a fund to pay off the cost of the new pavilion. Councillor ! Luckie, in contrast to the Mayor, urged strongly the importance of the. tunnel proposal to connect .with the eastern suburbs in. a more adequate manner,of access. The item.of fire brigade extension, was warranted, on account of the outlying districts of the city at present without fire-figliting appliances. In general tha city must get these necessary improvements, or go back from what ought 'to be the premier city of the Dominion. (Applause.) He did not thing there would be any difficulty- in supplying the money ..from the local market. The least the city could do wa&'-to benefit itself. (Applause.) Councillor Norwood said that, in his view, the time had nvvived when tha city's house should b« s*l in ovdtr. The policy of works out of revenue would I

mean loss of position' in th& long run. The city would go back unless 'these necessary works were undertaken. The councillor dealt with the need: . for a new power-station. The present plant was old, and; ths new plant was- such as to effect saving to compensate for the old plant, and 1 to provide cheaper eleo tricity. The permanent street improvements were designed to meet the urgent needs of the situation. The permanent street surface was absolute economy in tha long ran. The only road for the city was the best road. The proposedv route for Kel'bum and Northland' hadi been very carefully considered, and the alternative route direct to Kelburn would, involve, an estimated expenditure of £70,000, as opposed to £40,000 for the | i-aocepted route, which was part of a scheme with wider influerien. It would open up new groundl, and provide a link j for a line which was not paying at present—Jthe Aro-street line. Councillor I .Norwood strongly supported also the Hataitai tunifel, on the ground of tha tremendous growth of the eastern suburbs by the time the tunnel could be made—which would not bo within five j years. He hoped the ratepayers would ! back the council in its proposal. (Ap pla-use.) ' . " PROGRESSIVE OUTSIDE DTS- j \ ' TRICTS POLICY. Councillor M'Kenzie said tfaay had com* to a period in the city's "history comparable with the period of 1904. The policy of- pinching aloug out of revenue alone would no longer suffice. At the .rate She city was growing the empty spaces would aoon be filled, and for that reason the council recommended a. progressive outlying districts policy. (Applause.) ' On behalf of the Eastern Suburbs League, Mr. A, Blako suggested a regrouping of the proposals, and asked how the Citj Council could estimate the tunntl cost at £161,000, when they did not know where the tunnel was to be. The Mayor said the tunnel proposal was to go through the college grounds; personally' he favoured' EHice-stj-eet. The £80,000 estimate before the war would be £160,000 to-day. On behalf of Roseneath ratepayers, Mr. Burbidge strongly objected to the exclusion from the 1920 schedule of the good road access to Roseneath included in the 1914 proposals. He took strong exception to the proposed new tram route through Hunter-street;and Wake-field-street, as permanent improvement of those streets would divert much traffic from. Willis-street and Mannersstreet. The Hon. T. W. Hislop said it ha-d not been explained how it was necessary to expend half a million for an extension of the water supply and a pipe from; Orongorongo to the Karori Reservoir. They, had been told that the Morton Dam 'would suffice for a population of 150,000. . H» could 3iot see a reason for such an enormous expenditure being proposed. (Hear, . heo,r.) Mr. Hislop claimed credit for the acquisition of the electric light supply against strong opposition at the time he was. Mayor. He did not think it was Tight that such a tremendous sum >hould be proposed so suddenly ■ without opportunity for full discussion among the people of Wellington. (Hear, hear, and applause.) He referred to the sums required for electrical supply after what had been achiev: od by the electrical! light and electrical tramways. He could not understand ■the neo'd. The people wanted to know what was the disadvantage of waiting a little while and of selecting the more necessary parts of the proposals. Could not, for instance, half the cost of the water-supply scheme be saved by-cutting out the proposed new main -,to the Karori 1 Reservoir' 1?- Many cities had been ruinod by the:burdens of excessive expenditure. He submitted that the meeting had not had tUe information, necessary to vote on such important proposals (Hear, hear, and applause.) "CENSORIOUS." The Mayor expressed appreciation of the service* o£ Mr Hislop .in acquiring the lighting "supply, but ■■ condemned strongly the censorious attitude taken up by an ex-Mayor in reference to the work of some of the officers who had been associated with him as Mayor.,, Mr. Hislop disclaimed any intention of blaming the City Engineer or any other officer ■ , The Mayor denied emphatically that a-ny water leaked out of the Morton Dam at Wainui. The. fact was that the rainfall of the last three or four years had been extraordinarily low—about 50 per cent, of the normal. Mr. Hislop suggested the council should go round, and find out tho minds of the people. What were the^ there for unless they represented the people and knew their minds.' Voices: "No."' The Mayor said it was for the ratepayers to decide on what works they deemed necessary after hearing the facts. The pipe from Orongoyongo was being brought into' Karori to save the pumping necessary to-supply the high levels of the city, and especially the newer suburbs which had come into the city since the former water proposal. TOWN-PLANNING. v Mr! A. Leigh Hunt, on feehalf of the Town-Planning League,, urged the importance of making the undertakings a part of a general plan, of development. The city should be demarked into various areas for various purposes. People had gone to Evans Bay, believing it Avas a residential area. ' The Mayor pointed oat that at the time Mr. Hislop was Mayor the head of Evans Bay had Been selected- specially as an industrial area, and reclamation had been planned for that purpose. The new ppwer-houae would bs in keeping with, that idea. Mr. Hunt suggested a regrouping of items, which if adopted would bring tho Town-Planning Association solid behind the council. The Mayor said he could not agree to that. Mr. Hunt: "I eapweted that." The Mayor said he> was not going to" divulge certain plans to enable people to get in and do some profiteering in property. Loud voices: "Hear, hear" and applause. The Mayor said the council should have the power of a policy of betterment and of proclamation' like the Public Works Department. . > A ratepayer suggested a- 30-year loan instead of a 50-year loan, a 3 per cent.sinking fund instead of 1 per cent. A voice: "What odds if we never pay?" (Loud laughter.) Mr J. J. Clarke asked if the city was pledged to the Orongorongo tunnel contract, if the loan was carried. The Mayor answered in .ihe affirmative. Mr. Clarke asked if the increase in rates of lj-d in £ proposed was on the present valuation or on the proposed revaluation. The 'Mayor said it was on the present valuation, of course.. If the fnterest charges were less, then the rates on a revaluation basis could be reduced. Mr. H. P. yon Haast proposed a resolution of thanks, congratulating the Mayor and councillors on the sacrifi.ces i they made to serve the city, and compli-' menting the officers on the work they had done during the past year. He moved a' vote of thanks to the Mayor, councillors, vand officers of the city (Hear, hear, and applause.) Dr. PlattS'Mills.jseconded the motion, which was carried with applause