DERATING OF FARM LANDS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 10, 11 December 1930, Page 5

DERATING OF FARM LANDS

POHANGINA COUNCIL'S SUPPORT. The Pohangina County Council decided at its meeting yesterday to support a circular received from the Auckland, provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, advocating the derating of farm lands, or in the alternative a further tax on benzine. Cr. Knight: We should back up the proposals. However, it would not be practicable to put all the tax on to benzine. They would get electric cars then. The chairman (Cr. Strahan) said that there was a lot of waste in unnecessary expenditure on highways near the cities. Cr. Howell: They increase the width of the roads and increase the number of accidents. The chairman: The petrol tax is the principle we have been supporting all along, but we have not got the benefits we expected. The cities cannot exist without the country, and the country cannot stand much more. In moving that the letter be supported, Cr. Knight said that the roadsystem in New Zealand was most unjust. Many riding roads were used by the general public, who did not contrttnite to the cost. If special rates could be taken over — The chairman: They will not do that. Cr. Knight: Ido not think there is sufficient force behind the farmers' Union to push this thing through. However, we would be doing wrong to turn the proposal down. Cr. Howell: At the present time we are going ahead too fast with luxury roads.

Cr. Knight: We have luxury roads to blame in a large degree for the present condition of the country. It was decided to support the proposals.

DISCUSSION BY OROUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

The circular letter from the Auckland Farmers’ Union regarding the suggested derating of farm lands came before the Oroua County Council for consideration yesterday afternoon. The chairman (Cr. A. Campbell) said it was an immense question, particularly in view of the present economic position of the country. Cr. McElroy said there were several ways of looking at the matter, and he cited the cases of the Oroua and Poliangina County Councils. The first had a large number of through highways which the general motorist used and should help to keep, while the Pohangina County Council’s roads were not used to anything like the "same extent bv the general motorist. Cr. Green said that other countries were tackling the problem, and he disagreed with the view that there was a drop in the returns of revenue from the petrol tax. People were still using their cars as much as ever. It had been expected that the extra 2d per gallon tax would be spent on the back country roads, but instead of this it was being used to make up grants from the Consolidated Fund no longer available. ' , The chairman recalled that at the recent visit of the Highways Board to Feilding it liad been stated that the greatest difficulty the board had at present was money, and an assurance had been given that the petrol tax receipts were falling far short of the estimate. In any case the council could not deal with this matter; it was more a subject for the Counties Conference. The discussion then lapsed.