CITY MAKES PROTEST

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 55, 7 March 1922, Page 7

CITY MAKES PROTEST

COST OF ROADS AND v BRIDGES ■;.•■

PRESENT SYSTEM CONDEMNED

"PLUNDERING" THE CITIES. v Protest 'against the proportion / which the City Council has. been . called upon to pay-towards the cost" of the Pakuratahi, Millpr's Stream,; , and Stokes Valley, fridges has been ■'made' to the Minister of Publio v Works. The proportions allocated by Mr. R. W. Holmes, who was appointed a. Royal Commissioner f0r..''.,..' the purpose, were :-f Wellington City., : ,44 per cfnt.>; Eastbourne Berough, t per cent.; Petone Borough;, 3 per cent.; Lower Hutt Borough, 6 per ■ cent.; Uppei- Hutt Town Board, .10 fer cent.; Hutt County, 36 per cent. n the course of the letter,' important suggestions are made regarding tha' costf. of maintaining roads and .-. r bridges. "THE BREAKING POINT,""The Wellington City Council has all along objected to this legislation, but has never received any assistance from Parliament," states the letter of ',• the Acting-Town Clerk(Mr. R.Tait),to the. .: Minister. "The position has now reached the breaking point, as ey.ery award that I: is. made seems to impose a greater* liability on the city than the last; and it seems that it is intended to make this liability a constant..one for the city from ■'. ..:'■•. the end of Tinakori-road to the top of the mountains at' the :Rimutaka." The letter deals v with the reports of the Commissioners which assessed Wellington's liability for the cost of the Hutt-road^. drawing attention to the assessments made by Mr. Haselden, S.M., in.1902, : arid Mr. Short, an official of the Public Works Department, "in 1913. In. regard to the present award: of. Mr. Holmes, point is .made, of the'fact that the .city . pays 44 per cent, of the cost of \ bridges .. situate from 16 to. 30 miles away.from ■ the city,*whereas in .1913, Miramar and . .■•' Onslow, then separate boroughs from ..the city, contributed 44i per cent. -to , c the Hutt-road. "The Commissioner in this case has gonewholly ■ on - traffic,";. con-

tinues the letter. "These bridges are a vital necessity to farmers in the'Hutfc County. They had the temerity to sug-

gest that they could do as well with fords as with bridges. - The council is satisfied that if there were no bridges in these places the land values would/be > greatly decreased.; While Mr. Short'*recommendation was in the council's opinion unfair, Mr. Holmes'a recomrtien- ' dati'on makes matters worae. .' '

"Th« Hutt. County,l having been' sue- X cessful in its' attempt' lbshift to Wei- ' lington and other local, bodies the create* part of its liability for constructing its own bridges, ha» now started another "■ agitation to have the Day's Bay-road '••.-■ maintained by the cjty. Ik-.seem» clear that if the Commissioner* in every causa ■ are to be officers or ex-officers I of ' the PubUc Works Department they will continue to' make awards according'to tallies of traffic only, totally ignoring, the . value' given to : adjoining lands by the existence of these roads. The result will be, if: the Makar^ County arid -Hutb ; . County-are only, industrious, enough in ' seeking to apply ,• the provisions of .sections 119 and ISO of the Public Works Act,, they will be able to impose on fcha Wellington City Council- between. 40 per cent, and 50 per cent, of the cost of ■'. maintaining. every rtaain road, leading from Wellington lo the sea, northwards, ■ and eastwards, and westwards. This would apply to. the. Makara-road, tha' l Main. North-road'on the West Cbart, in-

eluding Ngahauranga Gorge, the Horokiwi Valley-road, VaniJ .the Paekakarikj Hill-road; and there seems, no Teaaon.to doubt that the process can' be extended! to Palmerston North. • In fact, if existing awards ar« any guide, the city can look forward to a minimum Vharge 0f.4 per cent, of the cost ofv construction and maintenance of the Main North roads and the bridges. existing', or^ip be ma da thereon, as far- as * Paekakariki on the, one side and the top of the Rimutaka Hill on the-other. How far further north this liability will goon the West Coast nobody can guess. On the East Coast the ctiy is by accident in al slightly better position.,..", ... i. "Through a fortunate arrangement! made between the : Wairaxapa counties and the Hutt county the liability 'cannot for the present extend beypnd the top of the - Eimutaka Hill. We shall also be asked to contribute to tSe>.roads running to, Wainui, Orongorongo,' and the sea, • anil- ■■ to. any main roads .coastructed in this, district ■ in the future ',

based otf unfairness:

"We are therefore'of opinion, that tfi» whole of this legislation being based, on. unfairness should be repealed af soon as : possible, and that some steps should be taken to terminate existing.- warrant* . and. the liabilities in force thereunder. \ We suggest that no' person should bt i , allowed to 'act' as a .'commission'who has not had- some."judjcia'l "fraimngC' :'Now _.. the Commissioners are 'always officials of • the Public Works Department. They are. the sponsor,* of the system, and its ; administration by them is leading i to grievous injustice by reason'of' their departmental attitude in treating th« traffic, tallies'as the sole basis of imposing contributions. We therefore sag;- ,'i gest that, if the system, cannot be set aside immediately, it should at least be . administered by a Supreme Court Judge. ' Under the ' existing--law , and . practice ; every city arid town which is the centre of commerce and industry;is.'going, .to y be plundered by 'the .country bodies to relieve these bodies of their legitimate liabilities. / If these Country bodies:! are jraable.or unwilling,.to maintain' their own roadp we are of opinion that the. Government should'take them''over. Tho only logical position is that'the Govern- .-.:• menfc should decide whether "a road i» amain road. If it decides.that road i«>, a main road it should maintain it \ and all other roads and"streets should'_b« maintained. by the. local, 'body,, in ,whoM ; jurisdiction they are, situate.■ .». .. i.-. . ." If tVaffic is to be the, main test or • ; to be taken/into, consideration . as * ■'•; weighty factor in assessing liabilities ttf .-"■■■ local authorities to contribute to the; , construction and maintenance of roBJB and bridges outside their districts, it is clear that the larger centres -must be charged heavily on account ■of the motors qwned in their respective districts.,; Most . motors that travel: outside' the'territory . of city authorities aVo pleasure cars. They are owned by a very limited section of the community. It is unreasons able that-tfie* general body of taxpayers of these cities should be required to pay / „ for the pleasure of this class 'able and, we believe, willing to pay for their pleasure." ' ' . '•','..''_ . •The letter goes on to say that as is seems to be intended to appropriate the proceedis'of the tire-'tax'to the ..upkeep'of -' ; country roads and to the relief of the . General Government from its existing liabilities inr. respect of Government roads, the' alternative" is to impose '/ some sort of. annual .'.license .;;fee.. to be collected by soioo centrally-situated local authority for expenditure on roads and bridges not kept up by the Government., i In Wellington such money v might . be/spent in the area bounded to the i west, and south by the sea, and to the ■'■[■

nofffi'TJy"a^ihV"drawn'°irom Paekaltariki to the. summit of „ the Rimutaka range, and running thence along the hills be-liind-the Wainui-o-mata reservoir to the

w. COUNTRY-- LANDOWNERS'Sr .ie>POSITION;^;?;V: '

■:"'" "'■;" Country landowners, the letter, adds, ' who depend on their roads and bridges ; ti>r their commercial existence, are in ;'. '.'•'■ Bioet ■ cases well ..able' to-, bear, their ■ iburderts, and where, they are not, the '. ri^s arid'bridges should riot be a charge ■ ' on the already,; . ovey-weighted city areas, '-" ;■. but on tfie whole comriiunity. The'sugipestion is made that! before legislation is ; thought down the views of experienced; ," members: of local and leadingl municipal engineers should be obtained. , ■ : JiSter intimating:ihafe'the'" council."pro-.; '■' ■■. poses to "ask: the .other central cities to, slate their views oiv the matter,, the •.'■.'^letter concludes' byreiteratirif: that the '■•'■'..'. strain on tihe council's finances in respect; ■ of the matter is already past the break-' ;'''■■•■ ing- point. -. ' ."'''",' ' ' ". ': - '. : ' : ■ '•■■%'.■. REPLY FROM PETONE. ■ : : '■;, '^Referring to-day to the discussion on^ . r the charge made by the Petona Borough' : Council for heavy traffic license fees, the ■Mayor of' Petorie (Mr. J. W. M'Ewtiri) i Baidiifcwas quit« erroneous for the Mayor ;' of Wellington to state that the Petone ...;;';. ■Couricil basesits claim for fees on the , •' niilk traffic,- -There was !in addition to '.'/ this traffic, very heavy haulage over . • ,P?tone "streets' to Wainiii-o-mata: 1 'In ■•■'■■' .-■•■ any case, the charge was: according to the "bylaws, which! were similar-to .those t .' of the city, 1 and.the city, should: be.the v /last to repudiate those bylaws. Tho ;■'■■' cily, i^iimes past, had made- similar 1 ■':'• {claims ;,oriLthe';l?etbne;:Council, in respect ,' ■td its motor^'bus' service, arid Petone had. ■■; paid without demur/Mr. M'Ewan added ,;V that all private owners of'heavy vehicles '', hid to 1 pa^,-arid;hb' saw ho reason' why ' any exception aliouldbe made' for the '.:.-.•. benefit of;the City Council. . • t ;'