OTAHUHU NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15235, 24 February 1913, Page 9

OTAHUHU NEWS.

MELTING OF RATEPAYERS.

A meeting of the Otahuku Ratepayers and Citizens' Ascsociation was held on Friday night in the Masonic .Hull, the president, Mr. A, Lowe, occupying the chair.

Mr. J. E. Taylor wrote complaining that a false impression had been made by a report that " the Mayor of Otahuhu hail been waiting {< r Mr. Taylor to act" in the matter of a conference of local bodies on the Manukau-Tamaki canal scheme. Ho (Mr Taylor) had not been negligent of his duties as representative of the district on the Harbour Board, and a/. b&ei? most desirous of a. conference on the subject of the proposed canal Members of the association exonerated Mr. Taylor and the Mayor from all bla.ae. Mr. T. White ley .regretted his inability to bo present s~. »;u» Sjst meeting of the assoeiat- in. Jlj :l< ! .v: "j<«ent he would have en ieavou l e;i > p; u. j,.fe vhem passing the resc.'utio.n :be> hail adopted in regard to the proposed new bridge at Manger.?. Mr. Whiteley pointed out to the meeting thiuti by passing that, resolution '.hey had admitted a liability which did •;£ exist; the.resolution, therefore, was much against the interests of the borough. Mr. Stringer remarked that members of. the association considered that jhe now bridge, if suitably constructed, would be of value to Otahuhu: but they objected to have to pay and have no voice as to the kind of bridge that should be erected. Mr. Norman Todd said that during the past few days a tally of the traffic over the old bridge at Mange re had been taken, and it showed that none of the traffic came from the Mount Wellington district, and considerably less than 1 per cent, from Otahuhu; therefore, the bridge would not Iks of anything like the value to Otahuhu that some people supposed. A resolution was adopted on the motion of Mr. T. Whiteloy, protesting against householders outside area having to pay twice for sanitation. All these people, he pointed out, had to pay their share of the cost of the drainage scheme, and the council had now decided to charge each of them £1 a year to defray the cost of the sanitary service. The meeting discussed the, tar-spraying proposal of members of the Borough Council as an experiment prior to proceeding with the improvement of the Great South Road.

Mr. .T. "Wilson, a member of the council, contended that tar-spraying was really no experiment now, for it. had beer, tried by other local bodies, and with great success wherever it had been properly done. The Borough Council had not yet adopted the proposal, but he had no doubt that if they adopted it it would be a great advantage to the borough. Messrs. Tattersall and Saunders _ were appointed delegates to the nest meeting of the Borough Council.