PRIVATE WAYS

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 152, 30 June 1922, Page 5

PRIVATE WAYS

QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE

EEPORT BY CITY ENGINEER.

The construction of private ways is a matter which has exercised the minds of city councillors for some considerable time past. At the meeting of the City Council last night, the following report on the matter was presented by the City Engineer:— "In connection with the proposal made by the City Solicitor that no further consents to private ways should be registered until such ways have been constructed to my satisfaction, or, alternatively, that the owners should deposit sufficient money with the City Council to cover the cost of construction to my satisfaction, I have to report that there can be no doubt that it is advisable to bind applicants for consent to private ways to carry out the work. As to how this should be done is principally, I think, a matter for the City Solicitor. I desire, however, to express my disapproval of the proposal that the money should be deposited, and if the work is not done it should be carried out by the city, for the following reasons:— (1.) Work which is done by the city inyariably leaves the persons contributing under the impression that such work will be maintained by the city, and as the land abutting is invariably sold, people buy with wrong ideas concerning the liability of the council. (2/j My most serious objection, however, is that such work invariably requires' to be done straight away, and we are pressed to have such work put in hand. It is impossible to arrange the work of the city satisfactorily to meet botfH public and private requirements. Under the present state of the finances, it is possible only to control the expense by limiting the number of men that can be employed, and the construction of private ways invariably would require that additional men should be taken on for each job.

"There will always be the case of such work having to be done by the council as a last resource, but, in my opinion, such methods should only be adopted under such circumstances. lam strongly of opinion that the council would be best advised not to carry out private work of the nature referred to owing to the amount of maintenance involved, the difficulties in connection therewith, and the general dislocation of city work by reason of having to attend to such places." The Bylaws Committee, in recommending the adoption of the City Engineer's report, stated that, in its opinion, when the financial position permitted, the council would have to facp the question of taking over the bulk of the orivate ways in the pity.

The report was atlontpd.