REMUERA AND CITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17110, 15 March 1919, Page 11

REMUERA AND CITY.

Iff. GAINS FROM AMALGAMATION. r- •■ EXPENDITURE ON WORKS. >; pi | MAYOR REPLIES TO CRITICISM. pI" Replying to statements made alt a meeting of Rerauera ratepayers on Thursday ''";■■ evening regarding the streets of that dis- '■:} trict, the Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, stated -■, vesterday that they, were both surprising and misleading. There was no ground whatever for criticism in regard to the treatment Remuera had received since '? joining the city, he declared. On the other hand, if the facts were understood, the residents of that district should appreciate what the City Council had done for it under most trying conditions, and , in spite of the heavy financial obligations j handed down '"from the former regime. It was appreciated by the chairman' and I members of the late Soad Board, who j were now members of the Cilty Council | As a matter of exact fact, the council had done for Remuera a very groat deal more : than was ever expected by the Road Board when the amalgamation was effected, and considerably in excess of any leasonsble anticipation of the ratepayers. Three Years' Finances. The expenditure by the City Council on the Remuera district out of ordinary revenue during the last three years, conT tinned the Mayor, had been as follows: 1915-1916 £9,224 1916-1917 11,369 1917-1918 10,179 In addition, there had been in the same three years, a total expenditure in the - ' Remuera district in connection with drain- • age loan (authorised since the amalgama- • tion) of £19,796, while £10,472 had been • expended in the period on extensions to TBter mains and improvement of reticulation services. The total expenditure ! ♦ durin? tie three years named was £61,580, while, during the current year ending March 51, the expenditure on A drainage would total upwards of another £7000 or £8000, and general account ex- £ penditure would be only slightly less than V that of last year. The drainage loan of • £30,000 was quite' a voluntary gift to ; [Rerauera on the part of the City Council, i. ' hut in undertaking that work the latter /'ad placed lie health of the community {r- Before further reading schemes. In that wlicy he was satisfied the council had ;•; i the support of the vast majority of the ■ ' people. Details of Remuera Expenditure. It might be asked what Remuera had received for the large expenditure of over ;• £61,000 in tho three years referred to, |. said Mr. Gunson. Among other things had been the widening of Remuera Road and improvements at Vincent Road, cost, ing over £3000; the metalling and tartopping of the main road from Uplands Road to the boundary, as well as nearer g , in, costing over (oar figures j the metalling | of Clonbern Road; curbing and channelI ' ling of Mount Hobson and Portland Roads " and a portion of Victoria Avenue, and a - large portion of the main road; 69 new . street lamps; honse-numbering; improved sanitary services; . and expenditure on Y maintenance and repairing, including the tarring and sanding of footpaths, at an • expenditure of from £4000 to £6000 a year over the three years period. Further- . more, the expenditure on drainage alone in Remuera now totalled over £25,000. , These were merely a few of the principal items absorbing the sum of over £61,000 -'. referred to. In addition, the district had been provided with a library,. which was very much, appreciated by j the* residents, . and also with an area of six acres of land, . ;'known'as- the Little Rangitoto »quarry,! i which had been purchased for £2200. This II latter was an assst to the district for, i . ti'otwh. everybody knew that scoria was unit*; satisfactory, metal for all necessary road|P ing had been quite out of the question i||S during the war period, I•-'., * Further to those items the late .road pi' board's overdraft of £3784 • and over-spent money in it* road loan amounting to £5900, had both been discharged by the psji.'city.. The total general rate under the • ■:'.•■ , Road! Board during the last year of its .administration was £8516, including, light- . ing* .Therefore, with a total expenditure ■/: */ by the City Council from general account layover the,three years averaging £11,980, it would be seen what an advtintage Reamers, ..;.; . had.secured by amalgamation with the. ._'.'■.".' city. In other words, expenditure under |§|§lj the . board, in view of overdrafts, etc., '■■'■■ would have been confined to £7009, with »la'i total inability to raise the £30.000 ' 'drainage loan, -aB the board's-loan account i|i:-;3r wa; afl over-spent, and its financial posi- : tion was bad. gsp&M"- ./""■:'•■ ■ " ' ' • v ■ t , City Council's Future Intentions. In regard to future works in the V •'. Remaera district, the Mayor said that the ■ • ) City Council would be .undertaking the . paving of Remuera Road, as one of the ) j early instalments of the works under the 1 -■ recently authorised loan. This alone l^^felwould-involve an expenditure of £25,000, Ijtffffatid- was given to Remuera quite without ' any obligation on the City Council, other than to advance the interests of that district, as it did other areas in the city. In' addition, several of the district's /., principal secondary streets were included - .r. in the schedule for permanent works in .."; metal—among them being Victoria Avenue —under the new loan. This removed • V.. ; altogether any grounds for suggesting that ;, Remuera had been overlooked in any way. -The statement that there was a clause \,;. : w the amalgamation agreement providing '/, that : ,within, a year from the end of the ■far the council would take a poll of the '.ratepayers of the city on a proposal to ' 'raise a loan sufficient to place the Remuera ■i. streets in good order, was- misleading. The clause was as follows: —" It is the ' present council's intention that, within - ■ one year after the termination of the . war, a poll be-taken for a loan for road ' psfructian throughout the district, the 'iinierest for same to be found by the . : , ■'• .united city." It would be seen, therefore, - - that the clause merely 'indicated a " pre■"itrjent intention" on the part of the then " ..-••';■''.'council. Moreover, the period of one year IPllpfaiter the war was not yet over. It was, therefore, unreasonable to suggest any H .'dereliction of duty on the part of the pjfelcouncil in that connection. '■-: < ;'■' Needs of Other Districts. v • "The fact is, that it has paid Remuera ' ,' handsomely to have joined the city," said 'v.', the Mayor. "The interests of the dis- ?<£'•'' tiict have been advanced and not neg- .'/£ V lected. No reasonable person would sug- .';■"■ ' gest that during the four years of war, -i|i;. and in face of the difficult conditions §||||.-'- with which the council had to deal, that fe|ff everything that was desirable in the direci tion of roading and maintenance could be xi - '} undertaken. No one is more painfully ~\fi"j aware of the enormous amount of work ,{•-',> facing the council in Remuera, as well §W;i\ as in other districts, than is the council P/V itself. Rerauera has had more than %%'» its share, if it comes to a ques- '■_--. '• on of comparison. However, I say C'-i' quite frankly that some districts have IJIj- suffered, not by intention on the part of |p|."' the council, but through force of circum- '■'■'/'■ | stances. Among them is Parnell. The . \ ! council will have to give more attention _';';' to that district on next year's estimates fell* ' an it has given it for several _ years p#:-. fast. I say this as a matter of fairness, £§""£* , and with a due sense of all tho council's itffi ' obligations. On behalf of the council I ltl|i; object' to misrepresentation and criticism M|* designed to mislead and damage." •