CIVIC CONTROL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19884, 10 March 1939, Page 14

CIVIC CONTROL

VIEWS DEBATED MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION REMITS AT CONFERENCE LEGISLATION REQUESTED LOCAL BODY UNIFORMITY (Pet Press Association.) DUNEDIN, this day. On tile first day of the conference of the Municipal Association of New Zealand, the following remit, presented by One Tree Hill, was adopted: “That the Government be requested to enact appropriate legislation requiring all hawkers and itinerant vendors to be licensed annually, or otherwise and that the Police Department be the sole licensing authority/’ Disappointment was expressed by the chairman that the conference had seen fit to adopt this remit, which would not react to the benefit of the association. Notice of motion was given to have it rescinded. When the conference resumed yesterday, Mr. I. J. Goldstone (One liee Hill) moved the following amendment tc the remit: “That for the protection of householders, the Government be requested to enact appropriate legislation making it compulsory for all hawkers to wear a numbered armband, or other suitable means of identification and for the issue, b> agreement between the local authorities, of licences covering more than one local district, and further that the association request the Minister in charge of the Police Department to arrange for police assistance for local bodies in the control of hawkers. The amendment was adopted. Other remits were dealt with as *°Mosgiel Borough: “That this conference considers that the maximum fee to be paid for the registration of any dog (other than dogs kept solely foi the purpose of herding or driving sheep or cattle) should be fixed at 20s’’.— Adopted. Wellington: “That the provisions of section 14 of the Factories Amendment Act, 1930, shall not apply to power stations or other factories of local bodies which are worked continuously throughout the week in three shifts on each of seven days of the week”.—Adopted. Harbour Rating Timaru Borough Council: “That section 84 of the Harbours Act, 1923, be amended by adding thereto the following new sub-section: ‘(2) For the purposes of next succeeding section, rateable property shall be deemed to be the approximate rateable value thereof as at December 31 pre-. ceding the financial yea* - for which the apportionment was made.’ That section 87 be amended by adding thereto the following new sub-section: ‘(2) Any such local authority may, in lieu of levying such a rate as aforesaid, pay to a harbour board out of a district fund 95 per cent- of the amount that such rate levied on its district would produce if paid in full". Adopted. Mr. T. Brindlc (Wellington): “That legislation be enacted to the effect that all debentures sealed signed and issued .by local bodies and bearing certificates that they have been checked by a responsible Government department shall be binding on the local body according to their tenor”. Adopted. Motor Vehicle Fees Auckland: “That the whole question of the basis of distribution of fees under the heavy motor vehicles regulations, 1932, be reviewed and a more equitable basis of distribution as between various classes of local authorities devised”.—Adopted. Motueka: “That petrol pumps at aerodromes be exempt from the provisions of the industrial efficiency regulation, 1938”.—Referred to the incoming executive for consideration and action. Lyttelton Borough Council: “That the Government be requested to so alter the Noxious Weeds Act that it will be more easy to administer and more effective, and it is suggested that two or three advertisements in local newspapers, together with a notice placed on the doors of the local body office replace the present method'; also that instructions for the carrying out of orders for the destruction of weeds, etc., be simplified and less delay ■allowed in the carrying out of the order.” Referred to the executive. Mr. - G. Manning (Christchurch): “That, for the purpose of simplifying the control of domains where a city or borough council has been appointed a domains board under the Public Reserves, Domains and National Parks Act, 1920, the Minister of Lands 'be requested to take steps to vest such domains in the city or borough council as city or borough councils and not as domain boards,”—Adopted. Standard Surveys Mt. Allbert Borough: “That representation be made to the Government objecting to the attitude of the Department of Lands and Survey requiring a contribution of approximately 40 per cent from local authorities before the department will undertake standard surveys.”—Left in the hands of the executive to be referred to the 1/ rds and Survey Department. Dannevirke: “That authority be enacted to permit the purchase or acquisition, under the Public Works Act or othertvi.se, of strips of land for u?e as public service ways to give vehicular access to the rear of pro per.ties, but not such as to be define'' 5 as streets.”—Adopted. Motueka: “That boroughs having representatives on other constitutent local bodies, when these representatives are garnted: leave for a long period in cases of sickness or when absent from New Zealand, be given power to appoint a deputy until the leave of absence expires.”—Adopted Licensing of Taxi-cabs Executive committee: “That this conference opposes any attempt to remove from the control of municipalities the licensing and regulation of taxi-cabs and all members of the association be requested to exercise, if they have not already done so, the

powers 1 to regulate the licensing and control of taxi-cabs reposed in them by the Municipal Corporations Act, 1933, section 384, (9), and that members be asked to advise the secretary of the association within three»months as to whether or not they have exercised such powers.”—Adopted. “That if the present unsatisfactory system of taxation is persisted with, authority be granted to the contributing local authorities for direct representation on hospital boards.”— Adopted.

“That is each borough where there is a tramway undertaking that maintains portion of a street, such tramway undertaking shall receive a share of the pet Vol tax allocated to the local authority within whose boundaries the undertaking is situate.”— Adopted. "That provision be made in the Rating Act, 1925, whereby a ratepayer may consent to the charge for rates being registered as a judgment arainst his property under the statutory Land Charges Registration Ac*. 1928, and that section 3 (3) of the statutory Land Charges Registration Act, 1928, be amended accordingly tr. give such charge priority."—Rejected. “That the Government be asked to enact legislation giving general powers to local bodies on similar lines to those contained in the Wellington City Housing Act, 1938.” Adopted.

HIGHER SUBSCRIPTIONS

BASIS OF POPULATION ELECTION OF OFFICERS (Per Press Association.) DUNEDIN, this day. The conference of the Municipal Association of New Zealand was continued yesterday under the chairmanship of the president, Mr. T. Jordan. The purely business programme of the conference was disposed of yesterday afternoon and the conference is being concluded with a visit to Waipori to-day and a social gathering in the evening. Consideration was given to the question of increasing the subscriptions of members to the association. The scale of revised subscriptions provided for an increase of approximately 25 per cent, the amount to be computed on a population basis The 'new scale was adopted unanimously. It was decided that the 1940 conferen— be held in Wellington. Tnc election of officers resulted as follows: President, Mr. T. Jordan (Mayor of Masterton); vice-presi-dents, Messrs. A. H. Allen (Mayor of Dunedin), R. M. Macfarlane (Mayor of Christchurch), Sir Ernest Davis (Mayor of Auckland), Mr. T C. A. Hislop (Mayor of Wellington), Mr. J. W. Andrews (Mayor of Lower I-lutt), and Mr. W. Marshall (Mayor of Paeroa); executive committee, Messrs. A. E. Mansfield (Mayor of Palmerston North), G. L. Page (Mayor of. Nelson), H. A. Anderson (Mavor of Mount Albert), L. ‘J. Ken-

dall (Papatoetoe), W. J. Wesney (Mayor of Otautau), J. E. Campbell (Mayor of Hawera), H. L. Harker (Mayor of Wairoa), Dr. G. I. Miller (Ashburton) and Mr. W. H. Nagle (Auckland Transport Board). Messrs. Parr, Clarke Menzies, Griffin and Company, of Wellington, were reelected auditors.

DRINKING AT DANCES

LAW CHANGES URGED

WIDER POLICE POWERS

(Pel Press Association.) DUNEDIN, this day

The need for more effective control of the practice of consuming intoxicating liquor in public dance halls was emphasised in a remit presented by the Mosgiel Borough Council to yesterday’s session of the Municipal Association conference.

There was little discussion on the matter in view of the fact that the principle of the resolution had already been approved by the Justice Department, the conference concurring m the view that it should be made the subject of statutory legislation. It was decided to leave the matter in the hands of the executive, with instl'CC“Jons' to have it taken up urgently with the department. The text of the remit was as follows: “That this conference considers that the legislation should be amended with a view to police officers being given wider powers to enable them to deal effectively with the drinking of intoxicating liquors in and about public dance halls."