GREATER TAKAPUNA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18565, 24 November 1923, Page 15

GREATER TAKAPUNA.

i VJg..;-,. 1 ,'• I ' Sir,— time seems opportune for {Re I ki taxpayers to consider merging Takapur.a i I in with Devonport. Geographically, it J i> seems a natural proposition. It would | iv embrace the whole of the peninsula north I apd east of Shoal Bay, and with proper |- civic management, would indeed make a I ."city beautiful." Devor.port has drain- | age, electric lighting, end the nucleus of I ; paved streets. All these Takapuna wants 1 £!■':■ badly It would mean one water supply | instead of two, and with a reservoir on I f . the hills beyond the lake would give a | splendid water supply by gravitation, with I < ample pressure for the combined boroughs. | A ' good up-to-date . civil engineer with | vision of a city richly endowed by nature : could easily be secured, and the saving in | dual expense of two town halls, town I clerks,' and staff, etc., would mean a great deal to the taxpayers in both boroughs. | K; Takapnna has an estimated population of 6000. It has enough municipal machinery for a town of 20,000 people. It has its own council chambers, salaried Mayor, town clerk, end assistant-town clerk', with four in the office, clerk of works, road foreman, sanitary and building ini • spec steam roller and engineer/ ton motor-lorry, a motor-car and four men working on the roads. Both boroughs am contemplating extensive loans, and with amalgamation, economy in civic adminis- <■ s tration would be to the advantage of all concerned. Takapuna badly wants a branch tramline to Devonport, and indeed, the advantages of amalgamation are in- ] ' numerable. Greater Auckland has been a conspicuous success, and why not a greater Takapuna? Warren Blytb.