EATING BILL

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 269, 12 October 1929, Page 4

EATING BILL

FARM LANDS IN BOROUGHS. VIGOROUSLY OPPOSED. (Special to “Standard.”) FEILDING, Oct. 11. Stringent criticism of the Urban Farm Lands Rating Bill was voiced at last night’s meeting of the Feilding Borough Council by the Mayor (Mr C. E. Taylor) when support of the council’s recent request that the bill be deferred for 12 months for consideration by local bodies was received from the city councils of Wei* lington, Auckland and Dunedin and the borough councils of Mosgiel, Hawera, Waihi, Palmerston North, Richmond, Motueka, New Brighton, Thames, Lyttelton, Taumarunui, New Plymouth, Blenheim, Levin, Patea, Pahiatua, Westport and Napier. The Municipal Association of New Zealand also forwarded a lengthy communication vigorously denouncing the proposals of the measure. In an explanation to the council the Mayor said that the finance aoinmittee had considered the replies received and had recommended that the matter be placed before the full council, and that the Mayor and the town clerk be appointed to represent the council and give evidence when the bill is being considered by the local bills committee in Parliament. He had, therefore, much pleasure in moving in that direction. MAYOR’S CRITICISM. The Mayior then went on to vigorously criticise the measure and stated that he had been present at the last meeting of the executive of the Municipal Association when in all there' had been 10 May ore present. “I was the only one present who had seen a copy of this bill, yet it is a measure which is going to bring about vital changes in municipalities, and the second reading of it was taken on the very day the executive met and I was present in the House and heard it discussed,” the Mayor added. “I had hop.es that the Prime Minister would yield to our request and have the bill stood down for 12 months, ,but he definitely declined, and his main reason was that there was already on the Statute Book provision for a ratepayer to make application for relief from the action of the measure.” ACT EXPLAINED. The Mayor proceeded to explain the Act in this respect, and stated that at the meeting of the executive the Mayor of Masterton informed them that he had already received three applications under the hardship section,of the Act and these had been recommended and granted. “I pointed out to the Prime Minister and Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle that there were a number of small boroughs like our own where there were any number of sections not occupied and Mr Perrelle replied: This bill won’t affect your borough at all.’ I told the Minister that there were about 600 vacant sections in the borough of Feilding and, giving them an acre apiece, it will be seen that half the borough is not built on. T*. 're is, of course, a probability of some of them not coming in under the section of the bill I am referring to, but will be under parts 1 and 2. There is no limit at all, and if the sections come under the classification of part 3 relief from rating will bo given. WORK OF CLASSIFICATION. “Furthermore, the classification of these sections means a lot of internal work in the council, and this will cost a lot of money and we will have to pay for it. There are many other objections to the bill and, as a matter of fact, in the House, while everybody approved of giving relief if it-could be given in certain cases, it was recognised that there are a number of sections in boroughs which are not so hard hit with rates as some in the business area. There are some ratepayers in our town who have nice residential properties of an acre or two and run a house cow. These perhaps do not come in under this bill, but they are paying a heavy rate already, and if relief is given to urban farm sections, the rates on these residential properties will be increased. There aro also a great number of farmers who have from 10 to 35 acres in the borough for the purpose of holding stock while on the way to or from the sales, and tho action of this measure will go hard with them. This fact was also pointed out in the House and the point stressed that these holdings would be well nigh crushed. QUESTION OF LOANS. “Another aspect is that of loans. When we put loan proposals before our ratepayers and they voted for them, they only expected to. carry their portion of the loans or they would not have voted for them. Now, when we want to extend our water reticulation and expect them to vote for a loan, it will be different if a certain section of the borough is going to bo relieved of tho burden of these rates, and it is not likely that any proposal will bo carried. I think that every care of relief to urban farms should be taken on its merits, but under the Act at present there is no doubt that any person in the classification area who goes '‘‘before the commission for relief will be given it. To my mind, the thing should be stood down to allow of tho matters that were discussed by the Municipal Association’s executive to be .gone into. There was a splendid resolution carried by Dunedin City Council 'asking that the whole matter be gone into in the recess of the House to find out whether the relief proposed to be given was on the most equitable lines or whether a better method of local body rating could be evolved. The very fact that we can jump from one system of rating to another by a vote shows that the system of rating is wrong. I might state that I pointed out to the Prime Minister a case in our borough where a place of 25 acres of farm land, under intensive farming is returning its owner a splendid income, and yet it will get relief. I then gave him a case of a ratepayer in the Square whose property was of a capital value of £BOOO. He pays £l5O in rates, £4O in land tax and yet his rentals only give him a 3 per cent, return on. his capital of £BOOO. I understand that certain of our ratepayers have sent a petition forward asking that tho bill be put through, but I can’t see the reason for it. CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM. “Tho classification system proposed is a clumsy and costly thing and if relief is going to be given it should be on the differentiation system. If a man is not making the best of his property, he should not get relief, but in any case the whole thing should be left with the Valuation Department and this commission kept out of it altogether. I have given the matter a good deal lof thought and I wish to see the best done for the urban farmers, but I want to see ‘ it done in a fair way- It is a difficult matter to get legislation through the House at present, but. the Government seems keen on rushing this thing through, and why they want to do it before it has been properly considered by the ratepayers of the country beats me.” . i The Mayor then answered one or two questions asked by councillors concerning • the measure, following which the motion was carried.