LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20604, 1 July 1930, Page 13

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

NEED OF COORDINATION. GREATER AUCKLAND SCHEME. Schemes for the co-ordination of local government in Auckland were discussed by Mr. 'J'. Bloodworth in the course of a lecture at the University College last evening. Mr. Bloodworth spoke instead of Mr. W. J. Iloldsworth, who had had to leave on Sunday evening for Wellington. Professor 11. Belshaw presided. Illustrating how local government had grown, Mr. Bloodworth said that in Auckland there were 21 governing bodies, possessing 297 members, all of whom were elected every two years. Such a multiplicity of control led to confusion, delay and to a certain extent wasteful expenditure, with tho- result that few people were ever satisfied. The remedies which were proposed were Greater Auckland by amalgamation, commission control, or a metropolitan board to control public utilities and communal interests which were common to the whole area. The objections to the first system were that local interests were lost sight of, while control by commission destroyed the elective principle which was the basis of rood government. A metropolitan board, the scliomo of which was modelled somewhat on the lines of the London County Council, would be elected from wards corresponding to the present Parliamentary electorates. It would leave intact the present local bodies which would continue to administer their own concerns, but tho board would become tho rating authority, the individual bodies making assessments in accordance with their requirements. It would thus have tho right of supervision, which wan tho essential part of the scheme. The need of some co-ordination arose becauso of tho fact that local body government was costing moro than it should and with co-ordination economies would be possible that could not bo effected under the present methods. After a discussion on tho points raised by Mr. Bloodworth a hearty voto of thanks was accorded to tho speaker.