A MUNICIPALITY FOR PETONE.
A public meeting was held at the Odtlfellows’.Hall, Petone, last night week, for the purpose of considering the advisableness of : baying the district constituted a borough. There was a large attendance, over a hundred people being present. Mr W. J. Kirk, Chairman of the Petone Town Board, occupied the chair, and briefly explained the object of the meeting. .; There had been a feeling in favor A the ohange for some time, he said, but the matter had been delayed in consequence of the position of the- Town Board with respect to the water-supply loan. There was no. doubt'the change' should be made at once. There were several important advantages to be gained by it,- the principal of which was that they, would be able to get a loan on" favorable , terms from the Government; - for waterworks. Under the previous proposal .they would have had to pay 5 per cent interest for 21 years ; where as by obtaining the money under the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act they would pay 5 per..cent only on it, and the..principal would be wiped off at" the' end of 25 years.' Another advantage was that if a County rate was struck the Borough would escape it. Under the present constitution there- had frequently been a cry that the Board did not possess the confidence of the ratepayers, and that difficulty would be obviated if a "Borough was constituted, since there would, ■be elections every three years. The fact that they would probably obtain control of the foreshore was also a valuable consideration, for that would be a valuable estate, add the time had arrived, he thought, when they should administer it themselves, instead of it being managed by a Harbor Board in town. Having referred to several other advantages to be derived from the constitution Of a borough, Mr Kirk said he thought they should at once endeavor to obtain the necessary signatures (thoss of at least 100 householders being required) to a petition for a borough. r Mr James Curtis remarked, in reference to the blunder in connection with the water loan poll,that he recognised that the members of the Board had honestly done, all in their power to get the loan,, and that the mistake was not theirs, Vy: However, the mistake had apparently been a very lucky one. .He denied that this proposal .to establish a- borough had been adopted:to “save the bacon” of the Board. He moved that the petition (which was subsequently read by the Clerk to the Town Board, Mr R. C. Kirk) be Signed and presented to the Governor. Mr Calvert seconded the motion.
The, Chairman, in answer to Mr, S. R. Johnson, said the borough would have to take over the maintenance of the county road from - the Korokoro to White’s Line, but it was one of the cheapest portions of the road. For the rest he did not think the expenses of working would be more than a few pounds above the present cost. ■ Mr Caleb Edmonds remarked facetiously upon the apparent- benefits to be obtained by becoming a borough, and referred joculai ly to the Chairman as probable Mayor. The Chairman : You’ll have an opportunity of being Mayo - yourself, Mr Edmonds. (Applause and laughter.) ' Mr Edmonds, proceeding, asked why the change' had not been made before if it was such a beneficial one, and to make them all happy. ■-.1-,-..' ' 1 Mr W. Comber remarked that he for one should not be happy if the place was called Britannia. To his mind the name Britannia was associated with a species of spurious metal, and that would not be at all suitable for such a place as this. He moved that the name of the Borough be Petone. 'Applause.) - - - - . Mr VV. G. Henry seconded the motion. A suggestion having been made 'that provision should be made for dividing the Borough into wards, Mr R. C. Kirk explained that that could only be done -after the Borough had been declared; . Both motions - (for the presentation of the petition, and for haying the name Petone) were then put and carried unanimously.. Mr Battersby moved that a committee be appointed to get signatures to the petition and arrange the division into wards j the committee to consist of Messrs Collett, J. Curtis, S. K. Johnson, J. Kelly, Cook and Sladden, and the Chairman. ~ • -The .Chairman having remarked that they could not have more than three wards, the motion,- which was seconded by Mr Blake, was put and carried. This concluded.the meeting.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Mail, Issue 838, 23 March 1888, Page 33
Word Count
757A MUNICIPALITY FOR PETONE. New Zealand Mail, Issue 838, 23 March 1888, Page 33
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