CITY AFFAIRS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25564, 17 June 1944, Page 6

CITY AFFAIRS

SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY ASSISTANCE TO SOUTH ISLAND SYSTEM The Electricity Department will report to the meeting of the City Council on Monday night that, at the request of the Government Electrical Department, the council’s steam and Diesel plants were put into operation on Thursday, June 1, for the purpose of augmenting the supply for the South Island system. At present the plants are being run between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on six days and five days a week respectively, and the running hours for the steam plant are to he extended as soon as extra labour can be obtained. The Government will be responsible for the total cost of running the plants, including the stand-by charges, the arrangement being in accord with an agreement made with the department some three years ago. Children’s Tram and Bus Fares The Transport Committee will report having considered the question of uniformity in the fares charged for children on the city trams and buses. By a regulation which was recently gazetted, all children up to 15 years of age are transported on buses at half fare, but the regulation does not apply to the city trams,' on which the half fare is limited to children under 14 years of age. It is considered that uniformity should be maintained between the two services, and the committee will recommend that the age limit for children’s fares should be raised to 15 years. The report adds that there is also an anomaly regarding children’s fares charged on Sundays. At present the Sunday fare for children is 2d for the first three sections, whereas the week-day fare is Id for the same distance. The committee will further recommend that, m order to obtain uniformity, Sunday fares should be the same as on weekdays. Omnibus Chassis

Applications were recently invited by the Government Department of Industries and Commerce for the purchase of a number of omnibus chassis, which were being disposed of to bus operators who were urgently in need of them. The Transport, Committee will report that an application was made for three of the chassis, and advice had been received that the council had been allotted one. The cost was expected to be approximately £725. Only 20 of these chassis were available, and it is understood that 250 applications were received for them. Warrants of Fitness

The report of the chief traffic inspector (Mr E. H. Barrett), which will be submitted by the General Contmittee, shows that in May 759 vehicles were inspected at the motor testing station and 712 warrants of fitness were issued. The number represented an increase of 221 compared with the previous month. The number of warrants issued in May last year, however, was 1003.

Government Housing The Works Committee will report that an application has been received from the Government Housing Department for the council’s consent to a plan of the proposed subdivision of Tweedie’s and Manning’s properties situated between Balmacewen road, Lynn street, and Chapman street, Wakari. It provides for 27 building sections with an intersecting road, 50 feet wide, from Balmacewen road to Chapman street, and a 40-feet road from Lynn street, connecting with Balmacewen road. The committee will recommend that the application be approved subject to certain conditions, including the following:—(a) That the Government Housing Department/ should form the streets shown at its own cost and to the standard approved by the council, and (b) that the Dunedin Drainage and Sewerage Board should construct the necessary foul and stormwater sewers to serve the subdivision at the expense of the board. The work is estimated to cost £963. The report adds that the Housing Department has provided a through road from Balmacewen road to Chapman street, whereas in the original plan submitted a cul-de-sac was proposed. Street Widening

The Works Committee will recommend that the offer of the Maori Hill Presbyterian Church to dedicate an area of approximately 0.70 of a pole on the frontage of the church property at the intersection of Highgate and Drivers road, free of monetary compensation, but subject to the erection of a low concrete kerb wall on the new boundary, be accepted. The cost of the wall will be £25, and the necessary street widening work will cost a further £SO.

Deep Creek Bridge The Water Committee will report that the Taieri County Council has asked the council to contribute towards the cost of erecting a bridge across Glengarry Creek on the Clarke-Rock-lands road. The work is estimated to cost £350, and a contribution of onefourth of this amount has been requested. The committee is of the opinion that the request is reasonable and has agreed to contribute one-fourth of the cost, with a limit of £B7 10s, subject to the county council accepting all responsibility for the future maintenance of the structure and its approaches. Maturing Loan The Finance Committee will report that the Waipori Falls Electric Power Loan, 1929, of £IOO,OOO, which is held in London, falls due on February 1, 1945. The amount of accumulated sinking fund at that date will be £40,000, and repayment in London will require £125,000, leaving a balance of £85,000 to be raised. The annual charges on the present loan are—interest 5 per cent, (plus 25 per cent, exchange) and sinking fund 2 per cent., a total of 8.25 per cent., or £8,250 per annum. The committee will recommend that the present loan be repaid in London on the due date and that the nefcessary steps be taken for obtaining the sanction of the Loans Boara to the raising of a loan of £BS.CGC in New Zealand for a term of 13 years, with interest at a rate not exceeding 3i per cent. The annual charges under this proposal, providing for a sinking fund sufficient to repay the loan at maturity, would be £Bli7'