THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1936 METROPOLITAN CO-OPERATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22579, 18 November 1936, Page 12

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1936 METROPOLITAN CO-OPERATION

I In* his statement to Auckland local | body delegates last night, the Mayor I easily made his case for the formaI tion of a permanent metropolitan committee to provide a fuller measI ure of co-operation between the I constituent local authorities. .The ! fact is he proved much more than that—he proved the need for the organisation of local government on a much wider and firmer basis than is contemplated in his present proposals. That conclusion is enforced ever more deeply when the nature and scope is considered of the services that Mr. Davis wishes to bring under his metropolitan committee. These include transport terminals, traffic control, cultural and recreational facilities, town planning, I public administrative research and i commemorative celebrations. And I there are important subdivisions under certain heads. It is clear that something more is needed than a voluntary association without finan- | cial powers or legal status. The committee represents no more than a beginning. If it be so regarded—as a starting point and not as an end—it cart be used as a useful means for clearing the ground in preparation for a well-planned structure of local government. Mr. Davis apparently has something of the kind in view. At the beginning of his statement he speaks of the committee as a "foundation" on which to build fuller co-operation and closer coordination, and at its end he recognises that the natural outcome must be some form of Greater Auckland government and that the existence of the committee will offer an opportunity to study the question as a whole.

j As good an illustration as any of j the need for concerted local action is provided by the projected airport ]at Point England. Its construction jis a modern essential and the work i should have been under way long ; since. But, although citizens may I fairly look to the City Council for | a lead, they cannot expect it to I undertake the sole financial responi sibility. Neither do they wish to see I an airport board added to the multij plicity of local authorities already I in existence. On the other hand the j co-operation of other local bodies who have an undeniable interest in such a metropolitan service is net easy to arrange. The experience with the War Memorial Museum will be remembered. A long period of explanation and negotiation preceded i agreement. Then there is the question of representation, one on which contributors rightly expect a satisfactory answer. This is only one of several transport problems which, by their very nature, will never yield acceptable solutions when worked out on local lines according to the artificial boundaries of districts. Mr. Davis mentions, as well as the airport, traffic control and the municipal transport station. At the present moment Newmarket is striking out on some new lines, in traffic control. These may be excellent in themselves, but must prove largely ineffective when applied in a small area entirely surrounded by the city, where a different set of by-laws operates. Newmarket is introducing diversity in a department where uniformity is highly, desirable. Experiment on so small a scale and actually at a pivot of metropolitan traffic, may prove confusing rather than educative. The transport station offers an example of another kind. The city's interest in providing such an amenity is clear, but it is of even greater value to the outlying suburbs and country districts. The suburbs depend for their very existence on convenient, speedy and regular passenger transport. Yet they are taking no part, either financial or consultative, in the erection of the new bus terminal.

1 The Mayor's statement contains i other examples just as impressive. The need for co-operation cannot be denied. Yet it is doubtful whether much can be expected from a voluntary metropolitan committee. At best its action would be halting and slow and it would be liable to stick on many points. But it can perform a useful service if from the beginning it works toward the end envisaged by Mr. Davis. A strong inducement to do so is contained in i the terms of Mr. Parry's Local Government Amalgamation Schemes Bill. Local bodies are invited to come together to devise district schemes for the rationalising of municipal government in the interests of efficiency. If, however, they cannot compose their differences and produce a plan acceptable to the Minister, then they will have to accept the decisions of Mr. Parry's commission or court of inquiry. It should prove more satisfactory to come to an agreed settlement, rather than have one imposed by the State. The metropolitan committee might well take such an agreement as its objective. Composed of local body • delegates, it should be well fitted to work out a solution suited to local conditions—better suited, in fact, than a commission coming in from outside. Opportunity beckons and should be embraced while it smiles, for behind it is concealed the rod of compulsion.