SOME NEW TOPICS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 55, 6 March 1937, Page 10

SOME NEW TOPICS

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

CONFERENCE AT TIMARU

VARIETY OF REMITS

The twenty-seventh annual conference of the New Zealand Municipal Association will open at Timaru next Tuesday. The Wellington City Council representatives are to be the Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, who, however, may not be able to leave Wellington at that time, and Councillors W. Appleton and A. Black.

There are some firm old favourites which come before, the Mi aiicipal Conference year after year, and are adopted year, after year, on the principle that if the Government has not listened up till now there always is hope while there is persistence, but this year there are several new remit subjects.

Green Island (Dunedin) is suggesting that the Municipal Corporations Act should be amended to provide, in lieu of separate elections for Mayor and councillors, for an election for councillors, who should themselves elect their Mayor. Timaru (by the sea) believes in advertising, and is asking the conference its opinion upon a proposal that councils should be permitted to expend a sum not exceeding 1 per cent, of the whole of the rates levied annually to advertise scenic or other attractions of the borough. . Timaru also points out that there is need for definite provision regarding the payment of expenses of officers attending conferences, and again suggests'not more than 1 per cent, of the rates levied. The Audit Department, states the Timaru Council, declined to pass such expenses for several officers, and as the limit of "unauthorised expenditure" was almost reached the council had had to decline permission to officers to attend conferences except at their own expense. The Audit Department apparently did not consider attendance at such conferences •as borough business. SUBDIVISION OF LAND. The Wellington City Council suggests that the Municipal Corporations Act should be amended to provide:— (a) That the council'may, in approving any subdivisions, impose such conditions as to amalgamation of titles to land sold and adjoining land as. it thinks fit, and that the District Land Registrar shall give effect to such conditions if they appear on the approval to the subdivision. . (b) That the council may, in approving any subdivision, cancel any previous subdivisional plan relating to the subdivided land, or to the land of any adjoining owner purchasing any portion of the subdivided land, to such extent as the council thinks fit. A note to this remit states: — "Conditions as to subdivisions have been approved where a small piece of land has been cut off one section to be transferred to the adjoining' owner. The Wellington City Council makes it a condition that the purchaser shall combine the title for the land acquired with that of the original holder, but the land transfer authorities act on the letter rather than the spirit of the Act, and say that if there is a subdivisional plan showing the original holding, and the purchaser has a separate lot, he can at any time require two titles, one for the original lot and one for the small pieces transferred,' even though the titles have been amalgamated. If the small piece is shown on one plan as a separate lot, even though an undertaking is given by the purchaser to amalgamate the titles, the Land Transfer Department states that he can, in disregard of this undertaking, require it to issue a title to the small piece."

Several remits referring to rating, hospital rating, rates in respect of Government properties, and Crown mortgages are again to be discussed. HOUSING AND TOWN PLANNING.

There are no special remits upon the subject of the housing surveys required by the Government, but there is a place on the order paper for a full discussion of the Act and regulations. In reference to town planning, the Dannevirke Council proposes that provision should ■be made for any borough whose town planning scheme has been finally adopted to raise special loans without the necessity of taking a poll of ratepayers.

The council explains its reasons for this remit as follows:—

It is considered that councils should have power to raise loan moneys for certain, but not for all, of the' town planning proposals by special order without recourse to a poll of ratepayers for the following reasons:—

1. The council has ,no option but to prepare a scheme.

2. After being provisionally approved by the council and the Town Planning Board the scheme has to be publicly advertised for three months to enable objections thereto to be considered and dealt with before the scheme is finally adopted by these two bodies. 3. Before any, loan- can be raised it has to be sanctioned by the Local Bodies Loans Board.

As legislation now stands, the rate-payers.-have it in their power by vetoing a loan proposed for town plan-, ning to virtually compel the council to jettison the scheme, particularly should the council be faced with compensation claims for the payment of which they have no funds except by way of loan. Certain town planning proposals, as, for instance, the purchase of land for additional recreational reserves or for a civic centre, are matters involving sufficient financial appropriation as to- warrant a mandate from the ratepayers before raising a loan for their purchase, but the Dannevirke Council considers that boroughs should have power to raise, by special order, loans for very necessary street connections, street widening proposals, etc., as well as for the payment of compensation for lands that would enable them to give effect to their town planning proposals.