MOUNT EDEN LOANS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18567, 27 November 1923, Page 9

MOUNT EDEN LOANS.

OPPOSITION BY RATEPAYERS.

PREFER TO JOIN CITY.

CRITICISM OF THE COUNCIL.

The proposal of the Mount Eden Borough Council to raise a loan of £140,000 for road and other works, and the question of the amalgamation of the borough with the city were considered at a meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Ratepayers' Association last evening. Mr. T. McNab presided over a good attendance.

* The chairman said he considered the meeting should have been called by the council, but as it had made no move in that direction the association had done so. The Mayor,. Mr. E. H. Potter, had stated that the raising of £140,000 would not mean any increase in the rates. This statement, he considered, was misleading. Loan money had not always been carefully spent, and there had been very little attempt to give Mount Eden residents the best return for their rates. He considered Mount Eden had now its last chance, for many years to come of joining the city.

Material for the Roads. Mr. J. L. A. Kayll, ex-Mayor, who was received with considerable applause, pointed out that a suburban borough was dependent on the city for many of its services. He considered that practically all the works under the loan scheme were necessary, but he was opposed to the loan because he had no confidence in the present Mayor or councillors; he considered them incapablo of administering the loan in the best interests of the borough. (Applause.) Further, he was not prepared to accept the estimates, the accuracv of which he challenged. Mr. Kayll said that when ho was Mayor the engineer had recommended that certain roads be laid down in fiveinch reinforced concrete with a bitumen carpet. The present Mayor preferred seven inches of plain concrete, without bitumen, and it was for that that part of the loan was to be raised. Mr. Potter had ' recently strongly defended the engineer's skill, vet he was not now propared to accept his recommendation. "Mr Potter may be an expert in some things," said Mr. Kayll, "but he has yet to win his spurs in the department of municipal engineering. You are asked to give the Mayor a cheque for £140,000 to play with as he likes."

Higher Eates or Valuations. The £5000 provided in the loan for firefighting, said Mr. Kayll, would not finance an alarm system, without which there would not bo efficiency. He considered the £7000 for improvements to the baths not justified. The baths were originally intended for the use of children, and not for the putting up of swimming records and they were still good enough for their original purpose. "The statement that • the ra.tos would not be raised if the loan were carried Mr. Kayll described as comical. He thought there would be an increase of approximately lOd in the £. The council might get out of the difficulty by increasing the valuation, but a3 "far as the ratepayer was concerned, the effect would be the same. He described the condition of the drainage in some parte of the borough as deplorable, and said that another loan of about £120,000 would have to be raised for that purpose. Nothing had been said 'by the council about that loan, however, because it was one that could be raised without asking the ratepayers' permission-

City's Advantages in Future. Mr. C. H. Hudson, also a former Mayor, described the present condition of the roads as scandalous. The present council, he said, could not by any means be said to represent the borougn, and council matters were in a _ very unsatisfactory position. He considered the time was opportune for joining the city, and if this was done he thought it would . mean that the concreting of the roads would be better carried out. The city could also raise a loan at a lower rate of interest than the borough could. Ho enumerated the advantages to be pained by joining the city, and pointed out that residents of Mount Eden were also citizens of Auckland. It wp< practically definite that a poll would be taken on the question of amalgamation, as only 700 more signatures were required on a petition to that effect to bring the nurouer up to the necessary 10 per cent, of the population of the borouph. A former member of the council, Mr.. W. Hammill, expressed the opinion that neither the council nor the engineer had the confidence of the catena vers. He considered that the council should have explained the loan proposals fully to the ratepayers. He was, however, not in favour of joining the city. Mr. J. Findlay spoke in support of amalgamation. The opinion of the meeting was decided on a show of hands, a large majority being against the loan, but in favour of joining the city.