EDEN TERRACE INQUIRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15998, 17 August 1915, Page 5

EDEN TERRACE INQUIRY

AMALGAMATION PROPOSALS

CASE FOR PETITIONEES

BOARD'S FINANCIAL TROUBLES UPKEEP OF THE ROADS. A petition ' that tho whole area of the Eden Terrace Road District bo included in the City of Auckland, and a counter-peti-tion opposing amalgamation, and praying that a poll be held, formed the subject of an inquiry opened yesterday by a commission consisting of Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., Mr. H. M. Skeet, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Mr. B. J. Esam, District Valuer. Tho inquiry was conducted under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1912, and was held in the Magistrate's Court. Messrs. 1 . McElwain, P. T. Birch, R. P. Smith, and J. W. Andrew, members of the Eden Terrace Board, and other ratepayers, appeared in support of the petition for amalgamation. Mr. H. Clayton represented the objectors. Mr. IT. W. Wilson, town clerk, appeared for the City of I Auckland. He stated that the City CounJ cil preferred to take up a neutral attitude, neither opposing nor supporting the amalgamation proposal. No counsel were en- ! gaged in the.case.. • -• j . Evidence was given by Percy McElwain, chairman of the Eden Terrace Road Board, that the board was unanimous in its support of the petition, principally on the ground of finance. The board's ordinary rates totalled £1654. Against that revenue the board had to meet the following charges: Office administration, £306 14s 6d; public works, £769 18s 6d; sanitation and refuse services, £257 12s; fire brigade, £62 19s Id; making a total of £1395 4s Id. That left £259 to go on with. The board had annually to find an amount to make up a deficiency in the water account, which last year amounted to £453. This amount came out of ■ the general account. Labour, carting, and maintenance cost £583 15s,'leaving for metal and scoria, and other material, and streetwatering the sum of £186 3s 6d. : V Main Arterial Road. Half a mile of a main arterial road ran through the district. This road carried the traffic of all the outlying suburbs. It had never been laid down properly, and it was j impossible to keep it in repair by patching, j ! A proposal for a loan tcy put this road in order had been defeated three times. The last commission which inquired into the question of amalgamation was overwhelmj ingly in.favour of the proposal. Witness said he had discussed terms with the City Council in tho event of the.amalgamation proposal being carried. The City Council offered to submit a proposal to'the ratepayers of the united city to raise a loan of £10.000. to bo spent in the Eden Terrace district, and to recommend it to the ratej payers. The rates would be borne by the | united city. The City Council also offered to place the district's water rate' on the same footing as tha'f of the ctiv, and to take over the board's overdraft. The=c forms were exceedingly' favourable to the 'li strict, but the amalgamation proposal had j been rejected by the ratepayers.

Too Small to Continue. Frederick Augustus Cleveland, a ratepayer, said that under present conditions the board could not maintain the streets properly. The main road and other streets were in very bad state. . The main road needed re-making;' and several dangerous angles should be removed. -In other places the road should be widened. The overdraft on the board's general -account' was now £1150, and the clerk estimated that at the end of next March the overdraft would ho £1450. The district had an area of Off acres, and it was really too small to continue to exist separately. The city was pushing into the district on every, side: The rates were quite as high as" those of the city. The water rates in Ed--''/Terrace were considerably in excess . of the city water rates. Witness affirmed that the number in. favour, of amalgamation had greatly increased , since the poll was taken. George Winstone, -a ratepayer, expressed the opinion that Eden Terrace should be joined to the city, on the oroad principle that the district was a barrier to the city. Ho did not consider that the Eden Terrace Road Board was in a' sufficiently strong position to carry out die works required in. the district. City Outlet Required. Joseph James Craig gave evidence as to the neglected state of the main road and other street!; in Eden Terrace. in view of the expansion of the city he was quite convinced that the time had arrived for the Eden Terrace district to be included within the city boundaries. The city required another outlet, and the only way to obtain that outlet was through Eden Terrace. He was not in favour of another poll, because lie considered too much time had already been lost. ..The, amalgamation should be brought about at once. William Henry Haslett, a supporter of amalgamation, attributed the targe number of empty shops in the Eden Terrace district to the neglected state of the main J road and other streets. James Gardiner, George Croft, George Martin, Mary Beedell, David Doull, John Davis, John Henry Garrett, Alfred Walter Currie, and George Hatcher gave evidence in support of the amalgamation proposal. At this stage it was pointed out that the counter-petition was put in, circulation, prior to the petition favouring amalgamation, and that it contained the signature of a man who died at the beginning of the year. It also contained signatures of ratepayers who had changed their views, and had signed the; main petition. Evidence was afterwards given in support of this statement. > V

Documents Informal. st • •• .I • th The magistrate/.. alter : examining _ the m petition before the commission, pointed ia out that I the signatures were in no way rc attached to tie 1 copy of the petition pro- t , duced.- He remarked that the whole thing was irregular. ;He did not- suggest that anything dishonourable had lieen done, but the -documents were, informal. : - Phillip Thomas Birch, a member of the Eden Terrace ;Road Board/ supported the ,1 amalgamation proposal, : and said that < the Road Board was absolutely bankrupt-. ' . R. P. Smith, a member of the board. - supported the petition on the ground j of . the residential advantages that would ;• follow amalgamation, , the better fire protection, and the improved lightingfacilities; the city authorities would give the district. • : j ,T. W. Andrew, a member of the board, • said the main road through Eden . Terrace carried the traffic from Dominion Road, Kingsland, Mount Albert, , and • part of Avondale. Tt. was not fair that the ratepayers of Eden Terrace should bear the cost of the upkeep of that road. This concluded the-. case for the petitioners ~ ■' Walter Richardson, clerk of the Eden Terrace Read Board, said that there was £2443 6s at present outstanding in rates. The bank overdraft stood at £1150. At the end of the financial venr there would he a debit- balance of £1450. The hoard owed £10.000 on loans raised. The position was becoming worse every year. George Patterson, an objecting ratepayer, said that lie gave instructions to a solicitor to prenare the counter-petition on May 14, 1914. The counter-petition was put in circulation before the petition for amalgamation now before the commission was signed. Witness said he owned 25 houses in Eden Terrace, and was one of the largest ratepayers in the ] district. He r was opposed at present to ■ amalgamation, but thonsrlit it would come after the war. By Joining the.citv row the ratepayers ,would have to pay higher ; rales. Rents were going down.- - ; v ,At . , this stage the inquiry was adjourned till Monday, 'August 23. '