MAYOR REFUTES CHARGE OF DISCRIMINATION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22696, 22 July 1948, Page 6

MAYOR REFUTES CHARGE OF DISCRIMINATION

KAITI RESIDENTS’ COMPLAINTS

“QOMPLAINTS airccl by residents of the outer Kaiti area regarding the failure of the Gisborne Borough Council to protect their interests are completely without foundation,’/ stated the Mayor, Mr. N. H. Bull, commenting yesterday upon a report published in luesday’s issue following the quarterly meeting of the Kaiti Ratepayers Pro gressi ve A ssoc ia t i on.

He said he could not allow these statements to pass unchallenged, or ignore the imputations that the council had unfairly or discriminate!}’ treated the area in which these ratepayers resided.

Nothing was further from the facts,*Mr. Bull said, and had the executive | of this association taken the trouble j to consult him or the council’s officers j before rushing inlo print with wild and i ill-informed accusations, the interests j , o'f the association would have been, in his opinion, better served. For the information of the general public, the Kaiti Residents’ Progressive Association is comprised of residents living in tiie outer Kaiti rating area, and docs not embrace the whole of the [ Kaiti residents as the name of the association might lend the public to believe, Mr. Bull added. The amount of rates collected from the Kaiti outer areas last year was 1.4 per cent of the total rating income of . th e borough. The general rate collected from this area last year was £504, which amount is barely sufficient ‘ to pay for the cost of night-soil and ; refuse collection alone, apart from the j cost of maintenance of roads, footpaths, drains and other amenities. “From these figures,” said Br. Bull, “the public will gather that this body J of citizens have in accordance with the ; policy of the council received as fair ( treatment as its reasonable, having in , view the interests of the ratepayers as ’ a whole. “So far as the particular complaints ; mentioned are concerned, the proper ; place to have these ventilated in the j first place is in a meeting with the council or its representatives, and I , would point out that this procedure I ( was very properly adopted some lime ■ ago by the Mangapapa Ratepayers’ As- ; i sociation. with satisfactory results to I all parties.” , , , , ,|; The Mayor further stated that he and |, the council or its representatives , would be happy to meet the association at any convenient time, and he I felt confident that such a meeting j would go far to clear up any questions or false impressions that might exist, j provided, of course, that the meeting was conducted in a spirit of “sweet reasonableness.”