TOO LITTLE MONEY ON ESTIMATES FOR COUNTY ROADS

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 October 1948, Page 3

TOO LITTLE MONEY ON ESTIMATES FOR COUNTY ROADS

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, October 12. Concern that grants for reading had been cut considerably was expressed by Mr W. S. Goosman (Opposition, Piako) in the House of Representatives today. He said there were cases where counties had gone on with road work and finished some projects, but would receive insufficient money from the Government to pay for them. The Minister of Works (Mr R, Semple) had informed him that insufficient money had been voted to the department for work. Mr Goosman urged that in these cases more money should be voted. Mr Semple agreed that there was insufficient money on the main Estimates for requirements of counties. If representations were made . the cases submitted would be considered on their merits. “Antiquated Riding System” Answering other members, the Minister said it might be necessary to help some of the poorer counties, but some of the trouble was because counties clung to the antiquated riding system. Mr J. N. Massey (Opposition, Franklin): That’s quite right. Mr Semple said it was unjust to the poorer parts of a county that county funds were not pooled to help the county as a whole. To give counties some relief, more roads would be taken over as State highways as soon as possible. In Central Otago, around Rotorua, and elsewhere were roads over which thousands of tourists travelled, and those roads should be maintained by the State and not by impoverished counties.

Allocation of Petrol Tax Mr K. J. Holyoake (Opposition, Pahiatua) agreed that the riding system of county finance was antiquated, but said the logical extension of that idea was that the petrol tax, which was collected nationally, should be expended nationally on all the country’s roads, including those in the backblocks, and not only on those dedicated as State highways. I

Mr Semple said there was much wisdom in Mr Holyoake’s suggestion. There was a limit to what counties could pay for the upkeep of the rogds. There was a need for a national system instead of the present patchwork, semi-parochial system of road maintenance.