HATAITAI AFFAIRS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11296, 23 August 1922, Page 3

HATAITAI AFFAIRS

THE PROPOSED TUNNEL LOCAL OPPOSITION TO CITY ENGINEER'S PROPOSAL. ADDRESS ON CIVIC MANAGEMENT. A meeting of the Hataitai Electors Association was held on Monday even* ing last for the joint purpose of fur* ther discussing the tunnel question, and listening to a lecture by Mr Stuart Wil* son. on "Civic Management." The chairman (Mr B. A. Batt) stated that the association had been in existence for gome twelve years, and during that time much progress had been made. Regarding the nroposed tunnel, the association was opposed to the city engineer s proposal. The views of the city engineer were respected, but when his opinion xegarding the tunnel was opposed to the one held by the people who were going to pay, it was time for them to taka action. In a work which was going to be the main arterial road to the city, due care must he taken to choose a route which would serve the interest of the people as a whole. The Kilbirnie people were not in accord with the scheme favoured by the ratepayers of Hataitai. Another asj>ect of the proposed tunnel was that traffic from the city to Kilbirnie and Hataitai should be thrown out of the city's thoroughfares with the least possible delay. A scheme which was going to bring Kilbimie-Hataitai traffic as far as Sussex square before doing this, was weak for this reason. The auestion of compensation, added the chairman, loomed ominously before them. He was not going to call a certain locality a slum, but if that place were near Taranaki street it would he regarded as the slummiest quarter in the citv. But by putting the route via Elizabeth street they had an excellent opportunity to get rid of these houses. Of the two schemes the more costly of the two was much the better, and would involve an expenditure of 6ome ,£30,000 by way of compensation, although this was a generous estimate. The alternative proposal would swallow up £IB,OGO in. compensation. A grant of £187.000 had been made, but the tunnel which the Hataitai Association wanted would c<ist far below this figure. URGENT WORKS NEGLECTED.

Mr Batt. in criticising the policy of the City Council, said th© council had gone park mad. • The unemployed labour of the city was being put on to works that were not necessary. a|nd urgent works were utterly ignored. The chairman further stated that the tramway freight service had been discontinued because it had shown a loss over a year's working of £250. The loss was not very great, considering there had been a turnover of £IOOO. Apart from this, however, the freight car had done work for the council —carrying sand. etc. —but it had not been given credit for this. It was possible,, by this method, for the council always to show a loss. This, he considered, was unfair. If an increase of. sav. 10 per cent, in charges were made the loss would be eliminated, but tbe council would TatbeT discontinue the service than do this. Another difficulty was that there was no denot at Hataitai to receive goods.. Permission had been given subject to the approval of the City Engineer, to plant trees in the streets. It was hoped to proceed with this work in the near future. MUNICIPAL CONTROL. MR W. STUART WILSON'S ADDRESS. Mr W. Stuart Wilson outlined the benefits to be derived from the institution of a cotnrollmg head, with unlimited sway over municipal matters. The speaker continued, that the control of municipal matters in New Zealand nas far from ideal. He did not blame the Mayors; or did he blame the mCn employed. It was the system that was at fault. It was out of date. The Hutt road, for example, was costing.in upkeep £BOO per mile per year, and this cost wa9 by a good many pounds excessive. In the United States, upwards of 200 cities had adopted the city-manager plan. This was a scheme which provides for a manager who appoints, directs, or removes the municipal staff. The system was simplicity itself. At present in New Zealand the Mayors and councillors carried out the management of the various cities. Under the city-manager plan, the Mayor and councillors introduced reforms, and left them for the managers to carry out. It was necessary to obtain the best man procurable for such, a position, and, in the United States, liis is the highest municipal salary. The system was started in 1906, when a general .manager had been tried in a city in tho United States and had been found to be a success. Dayton (Ohio) first popularised the scheme. The result was that the death rate was decreased ; public charities were augmented: training colleges and employment bureaux were increased; abundant snpply of water was obtained! a better system of lighting was procured. Mr Wilson quoted extracts from the reports of the success of the scheme in America, and these indicated that the city-manager idea was sound in every detail. At the conclusion of 'his interesting lecture, Mr Wilson was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.