PUBLIC WORKS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22851, 5 October 1937, Page 11

PUBLIC WORKS

! REVIEW OF ESTIMATES e DETAILS FOR PROVINCES NORTH ISLAND ALLOCATION i £3,300,000 FOR AUCKLAND .Nearly two-thirds of the amount ! required to be voted under the Public i Works Estimates for JP.'l7-.'IS has been allotted to the North Island. Of the provinces, Auckland's total for work for which provincial details can be ascertained amounts to £.'5,!500.000. «or nearly twice as much as the next highest provincial allocation and over £600.000 greater than the total ascertainable Auckland grants last year.

So far as an examination of the Public Works Estimates can show, since some of the largest grants, such as the educational buildings vote of £•",0.000 arc not separated into district allocations, the North Island has had £6,771,0(30 apportioned to it, while the South Island's total is £4,202,255. Many Large Items

The following table shows the estimated amounts required to be voted for each island under those heads for which details are given:

North South Island Island JJ £ Railway construction . rt9»,400 482,000 Railway improvements i»75,550 115,000 Miscellaneous buildings 316,150 34,150 Courthouses . . .. "Jl ,155 83,700 Prison buildings . . 11,700 8,3-10 Police stations . . 131,850 67,135 Post and telegraph work 260,2-15 191,115 Mental hospital build-

ings .. .. 116,130 69,870 Health institutions . . 37,600 28,765 Lighthouses and liarhour works . . 17.155 6,190 Tourist resorts .. 31,675 ' 20.800

Koads and bridges . . 1,058,505 560,925 Gen. laud improvements '275,040 357.265 Water power development 770,000 071,000 Main highways construction . . 1,164,000 985,000 Main highways renewal 180,000 59,000 Main highways maintenance . . . 776,000 396,000 Totals .. .. 6,771,000 4,202,255 Allocations to Provinces Votes of £685,435 for roads and bridges and £670,000 for main highways construction are features of the Auckland allocation, while Wellington's total is swelled by £586,000 for railway improvements. Although Otago has a smaller population than Canterbury its grant is considerably greater, partly due to extensive main highways, construction, which is estimated to cost £420.000. Taranaki, fifth in population of the nine provinces, has the smallest vote. Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Marlborough and Westland having been apportioned large sums for road and rail construction. The total allocations are: Main Provinces— Auckland .. .. £3,331,020 Wellington .. .. 1,812,300 Otago .. .. 1,222,315 Canterbury .. .. 1,095,875 Other Provinces— Hawke's Bay .. 81<»,300 AVestland .. .. 488,825 Nelson . .. .. 487,450 Marlborough .. .. 308,790 Taranaki . . . . 334,910 Napier-Gisborne Railway A sum of £504,200. which is to be spent on the Napier-Gisborne railway, has been included in the Hawke's Bay allocation, for, although much of the construction will occur in the Auckland provincial district, the line has a definite connection with, and has its outlet in, Hawke's Bay. General railway improvements to a total value of £127.500 have not been separated in the Kstiniat.es into district allocations, but it is indicated that the major work will be carried out in Auckland, Marlborough and Wellington. Under water power development, a sum of £,'516.000 is to be divided between Wellington and Hawke's Bay (Mangahao and Waikaremoana) and £539,000 is to be divided between Canterbury and Otago (Lake Coleridge and Waitaki).

The amount to be spent in Marlborough Province on main highway construction, maintenance and renewal cannot tie ascertained from the Estimates. as this district is included in Nelson for such purposes. For this reason Marlborough and Nelson provincial allocations arc subject to alteration.