Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1939. MUNICIPALITIES.

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 March 1939, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1939. MUNICIPALITIES.

infinite variety of remits comprised the agenda for the annual conference of the Municipal Association of New Zealand, held in Dunedin, and they touched

upon many aspects of municipal affairs. Not all of them involved public interest, a proportion being concerned with technical questions relating to matters of procedure under the Municipal Corporations Act, and suggested amendments intended to secure more-satisfactory operation of the legislation. In most cases, these have been referred to the appropriate authorities. Among the more-interesting remits was one from Christchurch, proposing that the Government be requested to

make provision for the payment of fixed allowances to the members of city and borough councils, or, alternatively, that they be compensated for monetary loss resulting from time lost from their permanent employment, while attending to council business. It would have been rather surprising had this proposal been approved, and the conference has not lost any prestige by rejecting it. Dm* of the best features of the existing system is the fact that it is voluntary, and this is fully realised by candidates before offering their services. If any financial return were involved for the services rendered, there would probably be an increase in the number coming forward, but a falling-off in their quality. There are still many citizens who are public-spirited

enough to sacrifice their leisure willingly in the interests of the community. This is one of the worth-while characteristics of public life in British countries, and the history of similar activities in the United States, with its oft-told stories of “graft.” points the moral. Thai there is a fascina-

tion in municipal service is proved by the lone 1 service, ol' many conned members, who rarely retire of their own volition. They are frequently the target of criticism, not always justified, and as a rule are expected to make bricks without much financial straw, but they are content Io receive more kicks than ha 'pence, carrying on to the best of their ability, with community service as their ideal. (Ireymoiith is not without its quota of such citizens. Reverting' to the remits, there

should he general agreement with that hailing from Dunedin, to the effect that, the Act should be exlended, to give a council power to deal with buildings which, in its opinion, may be dilapidated and unsightly, by requiring the owner to renovate or remove such buildings. The conference approved the principle, and it is hoped 1 hat the executive, to which the remit was referred, will not lose any time in taking further steps. Greymouth, for instance —and it is no doubt typical—has many structures, residential and otherwise, which qualified for demolition many moons ago, and their continued existence is no credit to the authorities, producing an unfavourable impression upon visitors to the town, to say nothing of residents. The Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) informed the conference that legislation is to be placed before Parliament, next, session, embracing townplanning proposals of’a far-reach-ing nature; but town-planning is badly handicapped, if old, insanitary structures are allowed to disfigure towns, and at the same time to constitute a menace to health. The point will no doubt again be raised, that people living in such buildings cannot be put out on the streets, but that aspect is a mailer for the Government’s consideration. If all the claims made by Ministers, in support of the housing scheme, are justified, there should be little difficulty in replacing buildings which, from every viewpoint, have qualified for demolition. While on the subject of building, there seems to be no good reason why the Crown should not be required to adopt the same procedure as a private builder, in supplying the local authority with building plans, taking out a building permit, and paying the usual fee. The Government should not be able to ride rough-shod over local by-laws, particularly in the erection of wooden buildings in brick areas. Altogether, the Municipal Conference serves a useful purpose, in that discussion among the various delegates keeps them abreast of the latest developments in civic government.