LOCAL BODIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21540, 11 July 1933, Page 11

LOCAL BODIES

[NTEA/iLY 700 IN DOMINION FAULTS OF THE SYSTEM PILING UP PUBLIC DEBT ADDRESS BY DR. E. P. NEALE A penetrating analysis of the faults of loyal government in New Zealand was made by Dr. E. P. Neale, secretary of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, in an address last evening to the Auckland branch of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand. In March, 1933, said Dr. Neale, 681 local authorities were functioning in New Zealand, as follows:—County councils, 125; borough councils, 122; independent town boards, 40; dependent town boards, 27; road boards, 18; river boards, 42; land drainage boards, 57; urban drainage boards, 3; water supply 3; fire boards, 58; local railways board, 1; harbour boards, 45; electric-power boards, 39; hospital boards, 45; tramway, etc., boards, 2; gas lighting board, 1; rabbit boards, 53. In addition, there were 18 district councils under the Main Highways Board and between 50 and 60 local educational authorities. False Local Pride "To administer the local affairs of A population equivalent to that of Glasgow or Birmingham we have 681 local bodies with elected and nominated memberships of between 5000 and 6000," continued Dr. Neale. "Their professional and clerical staffs number 3650 an increase of 50 per cent in the last 10 yeats —and total staffs of 45,402, with an annual wages and salary bill bf £6,500,000. All th<;so bodies have borrowing powers and direct or indirect tatir/g powers. "I have been told that it is possible for the same property to be separately frated by nine different authorities. In lie whole of Australia, with nearly nine times our population, there are not more than 1100 local authorities to our 700." One of the most serious obstacles to reform in this matter was a false sense of local pride, which tended to prevent the jnerging of bodies whose separate existence was no longer justified. The need for amalgamation was particularly great among the smaller counties owing to the revolution in road transport. I Too Many Power Boards Southland County, on the other hand, 'comprised 3760 square miles, yet its county engineer could visit the furthest corner of it and return to his office withyn a day. A larger area permitted a greater degree of staff specialisation, more economical employment of staff and equipment, and many other economies of large-scale operation. Similarly, a prima-facie case could be made out for amalgamating the small borough of Newmarket with Auckland City and the merging of some of the smaller power boards with larger adjacent ones. It was difficult to see why an enlarged county should not be the /power supply authority in many cases, given the necessary legislation. Dr. Neale quoted a statement by Mr. •T. W. Mawson, late Director of Townplanning, to the effect that, having regard to topography and present means of transportation. New Zealand fell naturally into 23 districts, each of whicli was for all practical purposes a self-contained social and economic unit. 1 he average area of these districts was justy under 4500 square miles. Regional Committees Needed

Mr. Mawson considered that it would be excellent if in each district a regional committee, representing all interests, could be set up to . discuss all matters of common concern. He was sure that if- such committees had before them information relating to the past, present and potential development of their districts, they would of their own initiative put forward recommendations for the reorganisation of local government. Whether they did so or not, they would at least be able to frame co-ordinated plans of development. Another fault of the, present local government system was the facility it had 'given for piling up public debt. In the 10 years from 1919 to 1929 the gross indebtedness of New Zealand local bodies multiplied 2 J times, namely, from'£2B,ooo,ooo to £69,000,000. The annual loan charges rose from 26s to 59s per capita, and the figure was now' 64s 4d. To some extent the development of hydro-electricity and the motorisation of transport provided an excuse for the increase, but the figures were staggering 'enough to raise a prima-facie presumption of undue extravagance. The speaker praised the work of the Local Government Loans Board in checking unwise expenditure since its creation some years ago. The Oase of Opunake

As an example of unwise and un-co-ordinated expenditure by local bodies and the Government, Dr. Neale mentioned Opunake, 40 miles from the port of New Plymouth. Here the debt of the harbour board was £55,000, and the present value of the wharves was nil. There was fine dust-proof road communication with New Plymouth, Hawera and Stratford, together with a branch railway, 23 miles long, and costing £500,000, on which there was barely traffic enough to warrant three trains a week. For this line the taxpayer had to find in interest and working loss £20.700 a year. Another point of criticism was the poor average level of administrative and general ability among local body members, especially those sitting upon the smaller bodies. It seemed to bo assumed by the public that no special training whatever was nee/led for the difficult task of local government, ft had been said that in general local body members to-day were selected and elected by default —the default of the responsible representatives of business, industrial and financial houses to tako an active part in civic affairs.