RIDGEWAY DRIVE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22498, 15 August 1936, Page 12

RIDGEWAY DRIVE

WAITAKEKE SCHEME LOCAL BODIES' SUPPORT NEARLY £II,OOO IN SIGHT UNDERTAKING ALMOST ASSURED Nearly £II,OOO of the £14,500 which Auckland local bodies have been asked to contribute to the cost. £63,000, of the Waitakere ridgeway drive, is now in sight, and it is almost a certainty that the scheme will be undertaken. Twenty-two bodies in the district between Papatoetoe and Helensville, inclusive, have been asked to participate on a basis fixed at a conferenco of Mayors and chairmen last month. Seven of the largest have agreed, with the result that only a little over £3500 remains to be secured. J lie allocation of cost is upon a mean between population and rateable capital value. The following is a list of the allocations, the bodies which have approved the scheme being marked by asterisks: —Auckland City, *£7077; Mount Eden, *£1059; Mount Albert, *£1058; Waiteinata County, £667; Manukau County, £666; Onelumga, *£sßo; Devon port, £552; One Tree Hill, *£soo; Takapuna, £411; Mount Roskill, *£3Bo; Otahuhu, £250; Newmarket, *£23o; Birkenhead, £175; New Lynn, £154; Ellerslie, £144; Papatoetoe, £128; Northcote, £126; Mount Wellington, £120; Glen Eden, £64; Helensville, £47; Howick,

£.'J7; Panmure, £l7. Two bodies, the Birkenhead Borough Council and the Papatoetoe Town Board, have declined to contribute, but it is expected that a large majority, if not all, of the remainder will support the scheme. Although the allocation among the contributors will have to be altered slightly if the whole 22 bodies do not join in, this is unlikely to stand in the way of a working arrangement with the Government on the lines proposed. The scheme commends itself to members of local authorities not only because the road will be a continuing source of pleasure to Aucklanders and an attraction to tourists, but also because it will give employment through the summer to some hundreds of men in the western districts, who will not be obliged to leave their homes.