SENIOR OFFICERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23060, 10 June 1938, Page 16

SENIOR OFFICERS

INCREASES IN SALARY OBJECTION BY LABOUR AMENDMENT DEFEATED Objection to a recommendation by the Finance Committee that the salary of the town clerk, Mr. J. Melling, should be increased by £250 was made by Labour members of the City Council at the meeting last night. The committee had recommended that the appointments of Mr. T. \V. M. Ashby as city treasurer and Mr. D. L. Robinson as assistant town clerk, made on February 18, 1937, should be confirmed, and that as from April 1. 1938, the salary of the town clerk be increased by £250, and the salaries of the city treasurer" and the assistant town clerk be increased by £l5O each. Mr. J. Sayegh' said ho could not agree with, the recommendation to increased salaries, particularly the salaries of those who were fortunate enough to be at the top of the ladder. He did not believe in salaries above £IOOO except where exceptional professional ability was concerned, and he moved an amendment that the increase to the town clerk should bo £l5O. He thought they should consider the wages paid to men on the lower scales.

This view was opposed by Mr. J. A. C. Allura, who said the town clerk was well worth what they proposed to pay. It was unfortunate that owing to the finances of the council they were not able to offer what was paid to men in similar positions in other centres. He claimed that by the treatment they received under awards and agreements the lower paid men were well looked after. Even with an increase of £l5O the salary would be well above £IOOO. Other Labour members spoke in favour of the amendment, which was defeated, and the committee's recommendation was adopted.

CLOSING OF STREETS GIRLS' GRAMMAR SCHOOL PROVISION OF MORE LAND To permit of adjustments and an enlargement of the grounds of the Auckland Girls' Grammar School, the City Council has decided to close Smith Street and Park Street, excepting a 10ft. wide track in Smith Street to give access to Western Park from Howe Street, and to lease the land to the Auckland Grammar School board for 50 years at /a peppercorn rental. In a letter to the council, the board pointed out that the school was essentially a city school, with an area of ground totalling only three and a-half acres, a large part of which was occupied by buildings and a further con-, siderable part was unsuitable for the formation of playing grounds. It was stated that the ideas regarding school grounds and the physical development of pupils had undergone considerable changes since the school was built. In the circumstances, the council was asked to lease a strip of 66ft. to the. west of Park Street as a school recrfffifcion ground. ICf r p.k- .

BUILDING POLICY

CONTRACT OR DAY LABOUR PROPOSED TESTING STATION The proposal of the former City Council to erect the motor vehicle testing station in Fanshawe Street by day labour was the subject of a letter received by the council last night from the Auckland Builders and Contractors' Association. This body asked that the council consider the desirability of cancelling the instructions to the'city engineer to erect this building by day labour and that in future the council arrange for all building work to be carried out by public tender. This was referred to the Finance Committee for a report. The city engiheer, Mr. v J. Tyler, commenting upon the plans and specifications for the new chilling room to be built at the abattoir, said that because of its location, he considered it should be undertaken by contract, and not by his own staff. It had been found with the recent building at the abattoir by his staff that it was necessary to pay over £2OO in travelling time and fares. The Health Committee of the council recommended the adoption of the engineer's report. AIRPORT SITE MANUKAU AREA APPROVED SHARING OF THE COST The City Council last night decided to adopt the recommendations of the special sub-committee representing the local bodies in the metropolitan area which favoured the Mamikau site for the proposed airport for Auckland. The council also agreed to contribute £SOO toward the cost of the investigations and preparation of plans. The sub-committee had also recommended that the local authorities concerned in the provision of an airport should agree to share the cost of the scheme under assessments based on the mean of population and valuation, that the necessary additional survey investigations and preparation of plans be proceeded with at a cost not exceeding £2OOO and that the question of the fotm of control of the proposed airport bo deferred until the completion of the engineering investigations.

These recommendations had been considered by the Financo Committee of the council, and on its recommendation they were adopted, with the addition that the council should provide £SOO toward the sum of £2OOO for preparatory work.

LIBRARY PATRONAGE FALL IN ATTENDANCE Two factors were suggested by the chief librarian. Mr. ,T. Barr, in his annual report to the City Council last night to account for the slight falling off in attendances at tlio central and branch libraries during the year. These were the unusually long and sunny summer and the advent of shop libraries in largo numbers. He showed that the total number of visitors to all the libraries P07 '963, compared with 816,796 last year. The number of volumes consulted in the reference departments of the Central Library and the Leys Institute was 261,054, an increase of 6142 Over the previous vear Books issued from the lending depart QO« n o«o^ ta ]l erl .^ 4 - c °mpared with in the previous year; a decrease a.2 P™ cent. The attendance at the A[t Gallery for the year was 60,375 which, in view of the remarkably fine and long summer, compared favourably with last year*& attendance <rf*62,053. '