"FAIR AND JUST"

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 37, 12 August 1930, Page 7

"FAIR AND JUST"

BETTERMENT PRINCIPLE

MAYOR'S EXPLANATION

The principle involved in the Wei-, lington City, Betterment Bill ana its effect on property-owners -were outlined by the Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troup) in a statement made yesterday in reply to Mr. W. J. Gaudin's letter on that subject. ''Though it is against my rule to enter upon a newspaper controversy with city councillors on the ground that they get full opportunity for such discussions round the council table," said the Mayor, "I cannot allow the statements of Councillor Gaudin to go unchallenged. "He first of all suggests that the street-widening proposals are to allow for the parking of cars. That is not so. All the main thoroughfares of a city of the dignity and importance of .Wellington should have a double line of tram tracks, which accounts for 20 feet of space; then there should be standing room for vehicles on each side of tho road for the setting down of goods and passengers, another 20 feet; and still another 20 feet should be provided for moving traffic; making in all 60 feet of roadway. In addition, there should be a, 12ft footpath on both sides, which makes a total breadth of 84 feet. At present the width of Taranaki street —to take that street as an example of many in Wellington—is 49 feet 6 inches, which is quite inadequate for present-day needs. If this 49ft 6in street were increased to 84ft, and a tramway, laid along it, it may easily Ijc realised that there would bo an enhanced value to property on each side. ALLOCATING THE COST. "The Betterment Bill does not suggest that-the.whole cost of such improvements should be a charge against the property-owners. An independent board will assess how much of the cost should be borne by the city- and how much by the property-owners. I cer•tainly' have never suggested that the ratepayers of Wellington should be asked.-to pay tho. whole cost of improvements, even though it were to /enhance the value 100 per cent. That disposes of Councillor Gaudin's statejnent that the full amount of the increased value is to be borne by the property-owners concerned. CONSTITUTION OF BOAKD. "As to the constitution ot the board, OC feel that some people are under a misapprehension. The town planner mentioned is not the city officer 60----talled, but the Government town.planner, and the' chief surveyor is not the city engineer, but another Government official;! so that the Government would have two representatives, the city (the city' valuer),-and the ratepayers one. JThus it will bo seen that out of four the: City Council will only have - the tone' representative. ' f'ln the. '■■■ case quoted, by Councillor pAudin of a,' street being widened by ionly. a few feet, obviously there would jb'e-nb increase in value worth mentioning, aud the independent board set up paft be depended upon to do the right filing. In any case, it; is not likely to err on the side of tho local body. !As Councillor Gaudin says: '3N Tow,no fair-minded man can- seriously affirm ithat the addition of a few feet in the of a street already reasonably ■mdc ;*yill increase the value of land Si that street, and if, which is very .Bonbtful, the increased traffic does injtrease land, values, rurely. the street or istreets. from which that traffic is divertjed will have :an equal claim fpr depreciation: in value caused by1 such "Street -widening does not meaii the widening of the formation, but means ihe; taking-in of additional land to provide for widening. In many of our new suburbs there is only 12ft formed, but there is a road reservation of 66ft. '.s'The provisions of the Bill, CouncilJor Gaudin complains, only allow for •the calling of two witnesses-^by any property owner affected. That was done to reduce the costs of the appeal to a' minimum.- If there is any. desire : £»:amend that clause I am sure the council would, not object." ."MISLEADING STATEMENT." "The most serious and misleading Statement made by Councillor Gaudin," continued the Mayor, "was where he said that the Bill was directed primarily to the eastern suburbs, and on the completion of the traffic tunnel this part of the1 city will be to pay practically the whole cost of the work, * being formed in effect into a special bating area. "'" Councillor Gaudin surely knows that Ho provision of the Bill can be applied to any work that is being carried out, neither can its provisions be made retrospective. He might with equal injustice have included the westera access work in his contention, including the whob cost of the Glenliervie and the Karori road, and make it a charge against the district, wliich is, of course, quite absurd. THE TE ABO FLAT. "Councillor Gaudin and all eastern property owners may rest assured that their residential properties are quite safe.' Speaking generally, the necessity for some of the provisions of the Bill has been brought before myself and councillors during tho last three years in our efforts concerning tho replanning of Te Aro Plat. Without the application of the. betterment system—common practice in the United States, Canada, Germany, and parts of England—that work will cost a very large sum of money, but with betterment it would only cost- a fraction of that amount. The work will enable the council not enly to wipe out a slum area, but toxhake provision for future warehouse' accommodation on lines that will per-1 »iit the traffic in connection with such businesses to be advantageously carried: en. ' "Without such a provision this part of the city will be a blemish for all ■ time. If neglected now, the opportunity j will never arise again. Every year's ■ clelav;. will mean ~mkanae& values in property, and make tht> *w»a-k increasingly difficult for succeeding councils to j undertake. It, is not too late to amend the Bill in any way reasonably desirable. . -. , . • "My only wish is to improve 4he city without inflicting injury on Any individual owner, but it does appear tgi me as a fair and just thing that when the city has to pay for depreciation on account of some city improvement, there should be a corresponding reaction when there is appreciation, and that ratepayers as a whole have the right to participate in the same."