MEETING AT MANGAPAPA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14846, 25 February 1919, Page 3

MEETING AT MANGAPAPA.

PROPOSAL TO MERGE INTO THEI BOROUGH. A LIVELY DISCUSSION. A public meeting of ratepayers was held last night in the Mangapapa school, having been convened by the Mangapapa Town Board in connection with a petition in circulation proposing merging with the Borough. There were about 56 ratepayers present, including a number of ladies. Mr. W. J. McCliskie, chairman o£ the Town Board, said he [ was pleased to see such a good attendance of ratepayers. He asked the nieet- ! ing to appoint a chairman. Mr. W. J. McCliskie was voted to thc I chair. In his remarks ho said everyI one was out for the advancement of tho district. He remembered the time whon I there wero only six houses in tho area ! now known as Mangapapa. which now | had 200. with 1200 population. The board, since its constitution, had been doing good work and running along smoothly. During the five years of the board's institution conditions had been greatly improved'. The initial cost of the , institution of the board had been very heavy, but nevertheless the position at the present time was satisfac- ' tory. As chairman of the Mangapapa Town Board he knew nothing of the petition in question. None of the members except one had even seen it. He contended that out of respect the petition should have been presented to the ' board. The beard', on hearing of the petition, decided to call the meeting to i discuss the position. The Borough Couni cil statement for 1918 showed the pub- | lie debt on loans at £452,679 lis 4d ; general account overdraft £25,015 1«>: 9d; total £477,695 ss— nearly half a million pounds, which at the latest census figures of the population of 11.000 people worked out at £43 per head. The Mangapapa Town Board had a debt of £212 when it took over, and had now reduced' it to £180. The overdraft showed £1500, while the census returns revealed 1200 people residing in the district, with the amount of 27s 6d per I head debt. The borough had been , working for 42 years and! the Mangapapa district had only been going for five years. Comparatively speaking, the 1 working expenses of that district were remarkably 'light. Twice the borough had been written to, asking! it to connect tbe district with the water supply, and replies had been received that as ! soon as possible a connection would be granted'. Permission had been given to connect with the* electric light, but i material was handicapping this' work i being undertaken. These schemes could [ be carried through by the board quite | satisfactorily. Loans were proposed to I be raised for roads and bridges, water j supply, electric supply _ and sanitary. i The traffic on the main road was in-, i creasing every day, and the cost of , maintenance was tremendous. Several adjustments ha (J been made with the council for a four chain strip of road, and the. Taruheru Road Board in al similar matter. ! Voice: What about the trams? The chairman then read a letter from [ the council, asking that district to make arrangements for tho extension of thc i tramways. Mr. Pa-rker : We came here to consider the petition, not the trams or anything else. ! Ths chairman moved, "That in connection witW the matter it is the opinion of the meeting the present time is not opportune to merge with the Borough of Gisborne." Mr. C. Matthews seconded the motion. Mr. Parker then read the petition, which bore 280 signatures. The ground? set out were as follows : (1) A comprehensive system of sewerage is urgenth required, and th e want of it is a menace to the health of the inhabitants and to others; (2) there is no comprehensive drainage of the storm water, and the want thereof causes much damage and great inconvenience to the inhabitant.'; of the said' tpwn district; (3) a proper scheme of water supply is urgently needed by the inhabitants of the said 'town district at th e earliest moment; ! (4) the extension of the tram system to lat least the centre of the said district !is urgently required, and owing to the j rapid increase of population would 1 be at once justified; (5) that in the opinion !of the petitioners the advantages above J set forth can only be attained by means |of a merger with the said borough. ] Mr. Bruce asked Mr. Parker if he j intended to put forward the claims con i tained in the petition, and the steps j that would be taken after the merging. I Mr. Parker, : I merely read the peti tion. If the meeting wants me to outline the scheme I will, but I certainly will not answer questions. 1 Mr. Matthews: I would like more information on the matter. i Mr. Parker: All ratepayers would receive due notice, and all questions would be decided! by a commission. Mr. Grundy said he would like to hear Mr. Parker's statement. Mr. Fenwick said Mr. Parker was a member of th« board. They had alway got on well together, and ne contender 1 , it was a slight on the board that Ik should go about and get up the petition quietly. Mr. Parker : If you people are here oi a fishing expedition you are going tr jbe disappointed. (Laughter.) I The chairman : I would like Mr. Par ker to make his statement. Mr. Parker: Perhaps what I would say wouldf not be complimentary to the board. Mr. Fenwick: Mr. Parker has backe" down. Mr. Parker: You have made persona' remarks, Mr. Fenwick; it would be bet ter for you to keep The chairman: Order, Mr. Parker; address the chair. Mr. Parker: He (referring to Mr. Fenwick) is one of your crowd. (Laughter.) I reserve the right to make any remarks during the meeting. Mr. Fenwick: I was only pullin? your lee. (Laughter.) The chairman said Mr. Parker would not speak on the petition, and perhaiv he was a wise man. (Laughter.) Mr Parker had practically said he had been careful to keep the matter from (In board. Mr. Parker: Be careful! I never sau 1 it. I mentioned' it at the meeting. Don't you mislead th© people. The chairman : The motion will giv< something for the meeting to discuss. Voice: If we merge with the Borong' Council will the condition of the hack streets be improved? Another voice : They won't get any worse. (Laughter.) The chairman pointed out that the drains were periodically attended' to. A voice; I reckon the roads were bet ter when the County Council controlled them., Mr. Nossitier pointed out that the Town Board was originally formed to prevent merging with the borough. A question was asked as to whether the district was not, too small to allow for moneys sufficient to attend properly to the streets. It was contended the expenses were too high, in comparison with jthe income. The chairman: Our income is about j £2000 per year. Our overdraft is | £1500; the Borough Council has £55,000 odd. ■ A voica : .We only control our own debt. Another voice : Some debt, too. (Laughter.) ' Mr. Matthews said he did not think it advisable to merge with the borough. The borough was heavily in debt, and little advantage would be gained. As an old member of the board, he could say that the district was getting full value for every penny of their money. I ' ■"■'■' "-»■ *« ■ "'■'■'■■>*-— W— | 111 Ifc i.

It was not :h\\ isablc to merge at the present time. j Mr. Hayward said he believed in the extension "of the borough. This district would not be saddled with existing loans if it was merged. The chairman .said there was a. cer tain part of the town district which wanted sewerage. The loan for such would havo t-o be raised over the whole district. Moreover, the cost would be almost prohibitive to install a sewerage system. Mr. Hill said he was rather disappointed that the Town Board' was set up, and felt the district should merge into the borough. He recognised the work done by the Town Board. Tlie present was' an opportune time for merging with the borough. He was a great believer in unimproved values. (Applause.) The chairman: The borough will take us in and' take us down, too. (Laughter.) Mr. Hill: There are parts of the borough which have improved to a wonderful extent. Mr. Griff en : Mr. Chairman, could you tell mc the approximate cost of the sewerage system? — Some time ago the eost for the hospital connection was £3000, and prices have increased since then. A lady : Do you think it right that the petition should be sent away without everyone having an opportunity io sign it? Mr. Parker: You can sign it to-night. Mr. Fenwick said it would! he years before the borough would have sufficient water to supply the borough properly, let alone Mangapapa, unless they connected with Waikaremoana. (Laughter.) A considerable amount of cross-talk took place, and the chairman was obliged to call for order. Mr. Hill said that whatever schemes were undertaken the people would have to pay for irrespective of the merging or not, and it was a question of which would give them the best value for the money. Mr. Hall spoke in opposition to the motion. It had been said that the time was not opportune, but he contended that it was. If any of th© schemes proved unsuccessful the ratepayers would be saddled for years if they remained as they were. Mr. Bruce: Have the borough scheme.? proved so successful? (Laughter). Mr. Hall said the tramway scheme would extend and prove favorable. The sewerage of the borough was not a success from a financial position, but it was from a health point of view. -He contended the Government would, force them hefore very long to go in for a system of more efficient drainage. He paid in rates £5 3s 6d, and if he was merged with the borough it Avould be £1 17s. Assuming he came into the borough he would have the henefit of the water, lighting, and drainage schemes. He paid l £5 2s 6d for the removal of nightsoil. (Laughter.) The members ofethe Town Board could not do any better than they were doing with the stinted income at their disposal. The system of centralisation, was always the most economical and satisfactory in any scheme. Mr. Parker : We want better administration. ' \ Mr. Fenwick : Wait int-il you become Mayor. (Laughter.) Mr. Parker: You will get there first. Mr. Grundy said Mangapapa was the only district that had not increased its rates. The borough would soon have to install another sewerage system. A voice: It should never have been started. Mr. Grundy: If you know anything about the financial position of the borough it is "cutting off your nose to spite your face." The present time is not opportune to merge with the borough in its existing financial condition. If the ratepayers -want rating tfifferently, they can do it without going into the borough. I suppose the petitioners were told they could get plenty of water, (daughter.) Mr. Parker: Now. be careful what yon say. (Laughter.) Mr; Grundy : This fancy talk about centralisation is purely theory. Voice: Tt wa=i a benefit to the small man in England. Tho chairman said the motion had served its purpose, and 'with his sneondfcr's permission he, ; ,.\yithdrew it. He was pleased to see such an enthusiastic meeting. On the motion of Mr. Parker, a vote of thanks was passed to the chairman, and the meeting terminated.