COUNTY AMALGAMATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 March 1937, Page 5

COUNTY AMALGAMATION

SOUTH CANTERBURY SCHEME. [per press association.] CHRISTCHURCH, March 16. Four local bodies in South Canterbury will disappear and will be replaced by one if a proposal put before them yesterday is accepted. The Minister for Internal Affairs, (Hon. W. E Parrv) attended a conference at Fairlie, and told representatives of the Geraldine, Levels, Mackenzie, and Waimate County Council his reasons for believing that the areas controlled by the four bodies should be amalgamated. " The four bodies will hold another conference soon, and if they decide to adopt the Minister’s proposals, the South Island will contain the biggest county in the Dominion. The total area of the four counties as they exist at present is more than 3,000,000 acres. The Minister told the conference at Fairlie yesterday that his decision that the counties should be united had been influenced by two main factors: (1) The previous proposals instituted locally for the amalgamation of the four counties; (2) the existence of large counties which could be said to be operating successfully. On the first point, the Minister said he had studied the position which arose some few years ago. when the four county councils discussed amalgamation.

“I know that the efforts then, made to amalgamate proved fruitless,” continued Mfr Barry. “but I have yet to learn that there were any insuperable difficulties in the way of successful amalgamation. I think the proposal is feasible, and would be a decided forward move in local government progress. In taking the broad view of the second point, and excluding all the small details, which are usually held up by ■opponents of a scheme, as condemning the system, I think the two basic instances of area, population, and rateable value of counties could be said to be the Hawke’s Bay county in the Noyth Island, and Southland county in the South Island. I have used these two counties as a fair basis. Nobody can tell me,” he said, “that counties of a size, population, and rateable value such as those two cannot he properly administered.” Applying the case of those two counties to a comparison with the proposed afmalgamaCed county of? Geraldine, Levels, Mackenzie, and Waimate, the Minister gave the folio-wing comparative figures: — Total Rateable Area Cap- Popu(Acres). ital Value. lation. Hawke’s Baj’ County 1,071,360 £10,639,415 15,750 Southland County 2,391,040 £ 12,583,373 25,770 Proposed amalgamated County 3,248,000 £15,154,321 21,330 “The amalgamated county would be big, but not too big,” he said. “In area and rateable value, it would be bigger than both the other two counties, but this is. offset by the large tract of-back country now forming part of

the Mackenzie county, which would be taken over. In population it is greater than Hawke’s Bay, but considerably less than Southland. The proposed new county would, I think, be one of the most up-to-date county units in being. “This Government is not, as has been alleged, out to kill local government,” Mr. Parry said. “Its aim is to preserve local govex-jjment, which I honestly think is one of the best protectors of democracy that exists today. I am not asking for revolutionary measures: I am asking only that we keep up to date.” The councils concerned propose to meet later to consider the questions involved.