THE NOLANTOWN MERGER.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 28 November 1924, Page 7

THE NOLANTOWN MERGER.

COMMISSION OPENS. THE PETITIONERS’ CASE. The commission to inquire into and report upon the petition to include the Nolantown area in the Hawera borough, and th© objection thereto, commenced its sitting at the Hawera Magistrate’s Court to-day. Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M., presided, and there were associated with him Messrs J. Cook, Commissioner of Crown Lands, New Plymouth, and O. Gardner, District Land Wanganui. Mr. H, L. Spratt appeared for the petitioners, Messrs P. O’Dea and D. G. Smart, for the objectors, and Mr. Houston for the Hawera Borough and Hawera. County Councils. Mr. Houston said that the attitude of the Hawera Borough Council and the Hawera County Council was oii e of strict neutrality. Based on ah understanding that the residents of Nolantown were unanimous, the Borough Council had moved in the direction of bringing about the merger, and < the borough and county had set lip a joint committee to arrive at adjustments, out that committee had only arrived at a decision on general lines. “ There had oeeii nothing binding,, and later, when it became obvious, that the residents or Nolantown were not unanimous, rt was decided to adopt an attitude of stiiot lieutrality. This, then, was the piesent attituclo of both, local bodiesMi-. Spratt, at the outset, said that the petition for a. merger was a majority one. In all thef e were 87 signatures to the petition, but in the case ot two church properties three churchwardens hid had to sign for ono and two for another, making the total 84. Mr. O’Dea interjected that signatures to the petition had been obtained rrom non-ratepayers. M-L Spiatt replied that the same applied to the objectors. In tlie case of the petition the names ofidiose whose signatures were hot in order were Korn Rangi, W. G. Bishop, W. B. Williams, and Mrs. E. Hannah. There was no disputing the fact that the vast majority of the people of Nolantown. were at fa ™ ur M M ie merger. Continuing, Mr Spratt said it was hot until a public meeting had been held recently teat two objectors, j. J. Cahiil against the proposal. However, he and G. Pickup j had raised their voices now found that Mr. Cahill’s rates amounted ,to only 6s 7d per annum, and he had signed tlie petition objecting to inclusion in tlie borough on the pounds that the fates would become burdensome. Mr. Cahill’s fellow objector Mr. Pickup, was a. wealthy re- !? ire iL ,’ mer ', and his rates amounted to £2 12s Id. •

'M le , main burden of the objections had been excessive rates, but there was not one objector who paid £lO per annum in rates. The vast majority were paying under £l. The area of Nolantown/ was 102 acres and contained 126 dwellings and a population ot between 500 and 600 people. The capital value of the area was £64,739, the unimproved value £22,994, and the improved value £41,745. The present rating was on. the capital value at the rate of IJd in the £l. The borough rating amounted to in the £1 on the unimproved valuation. The capital value of . the borough was £1.466,610. .the unimproved value £688,494 and the improved value £778,116.

Mr. O’Dea said that a water rate would have to be taken into consideration, but Mr. Spratt pointed, out that there .would be iio such rate until water was laid on. At the present time the Borough Council could not supply the area with water, and there was a repoit from the borough engineer warning them against supplying any additional water to residents outside the ooror/gh, p.wmg to the danger of overtaxing the ihains. However, allowing /or the cost of installing an additional water supply, the total rates on'the Nolantown area if brought into the oprough would amount to £738 over the whole area —an average of £7 per acre, against the present iiveraee in the borough of £2O per acre. "Mr. Spi att said that the only? way for the Nolantown residents to get a water supply was. for them to come into the omough. Mr. Murdoch, the chairman of the Hawera County Council, had said tins himself. The duplication of the mam, necessary to provide Nolanwater, would cost about £SO LOO,. and the objectors wanted this duplication to take place before they were brought into the borough go that the borough would have to bear the whole cost. All that the objectors could then be charged with would be a very small water rate. Nolantown represented 1-31 of the. value of the )orough, and their share of the duplica. the mam would amount to c nicn - r&ise this moriey th© s um or ilUb per annum would cover interest and sinking fund. There were JOO pnp'is attending the Tawhiti school •md there were no fire appliances there, and nre protection was not guaranteed outoKle the borough. In conclusion, Mi. Spratt said that Nolantown was jocularly referred to a s the “Cinderella . Hauera. Its roads were in a shocking condition, there' were only five ligats m the area, and it- was insanitary. u/V' A 1118 stage Mr. Barton suggested uhat the evidence should be called, as it was upon that that the commission r\as to make its decision. c Hr J.. Boyd, medical officer of health mr this district, said in evidence that he had reported on Nolantown to -the cliect that the position there was “not a promising one from the point of view of public health. 9i In fact he had not realised that conditions were so had ™te! he had made his inspection, u hether drainage was carried out or not, the present practice of burying mght-soil in the small sections "was dangerous. brands G. Coleman, inspector of health in this district, said he had made a house-to-house inspection of the Nolantown area, and only in four cases was there any evidence to show that i esidepts had anything approaching what could be described as a- septic te e was sllre in his own mind that d it were not for the natural position of Nolantown there would have been trouble there before now. (Proceeding.)