OTAHUHU LOAN POLL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18519, 2 October 1923, Page 8

OTAHUHU LOAN POLL.

COMPREHENSIVE SCHEME.

PROPOSALS TOTAL £69,600.

OVER £42,000 FOR STREETS.

The loan proposals of the Otalmhu Borough Council were considered at a meeting of ratepayers held last evening. The Mayor, Mr. R. B. Todd, presided over a good , attendance. The proposals comprise the. raising of £69.600. The. largest lean proposed is that of £42,850 for street improvements, this including the laying down in concrete of the whole of the Great South '.Road within the borough, the whole of Station and Walmsley Roads, and Mangere Road from the Great South Road to the Middlempre store, as well as the provision of footpaths in Avenue and Panmure Road«, and Princes and Luke Streets, and in Manger© Road from Walmsley Street to tho Mangere railway crossing. It is proposed to raise £21,500 for the drainage of the Huia Road and Middlemore areas. The third loan is one of £4250 to provide a plant for the quarry, while finally it is proposed to spend £1000 on improvements to Sturgcs' Park. The Mayor stated that there was a great necessity for tho first loan. The average yearly cost of upkeep for the borou£-h'a portion of 'the Great South Road was : £1100. The cost of upkeep of concrete roads, on the other hand, was very small, and almost all the money now spent on upkeep would be available for improvement to 6ide roads. Properly formed footpaths were also a necessity. He considered it was just as essential to have good footpaths as ' good roads He then referred to the drainage and quarry loans, and stated that it was confidently expected that the quarry would more than pay for itself; The present price, of metal was' 21s a yard, but it was hoped to place metal on the road from the quarry at a saving of 7s a yard. He stated that it would be necessary to strike a rate, but that it would be "only a small one, slightly under 3£d, and he pointed out that even with this increase, Otahuhu rates compared favourably with those "of . other boroughs. The full rate would not be required, he said,. until the end of the fourth . year, and perhaps not even then. Mr. A. G. Walker, engineer. to the council, explained the proposals in detail. The concrete roads would be 18ft. wide and footpaths 15ft. On the Great South ; Read it was intended to ' leave a strip in. the centre for tram* tracks. This strip would be sealed with ' tar. The drainage scheme, he explained, provided -for two outfalls, one in the Tamaki River and the other in the Manukau Harbour. In response to a question, the Mayor stated that it was proposed to carry out the work by, contract... A ■.{number-: of other questions - were answered, and the meeting terminated with a vote of confidence in the council, and" a vote of thanks to the Mayor. A poll will be taken on the proposals to-morrow. ;. /:•.-.,r...' : ■■■'■ ...'■;-: