THE MUNICIPAL CONFERENCE

Southland Times, Issue 17698, 9 July 1914, Page 6

THE MUNICIPAL CONFERENCE

S'.AIK OK THK BKMITS. The thirteenth conference of ihe Municipal Associate.n of Xew Zealand is to open in Wellington City Council Chambers on the I Ith inst.. under the presidency of Mr .1. B. Bttkc, Mayor of Wellington. The order paper is a fairly lengthy one. Amongst the remits of genet nl interest are the following— That section forty-eight of the Municipal Corporations Act be amended, so that the term of office of Councillors be extended and a proportion of members retire annually.—Woolston. That urovison bo made for any vacancy in either the office of .Mayor or Councillor to be filled by the Council for the balance of the term.—Wellington. That section seventeen of the Municipal Corporations Amendment Act. 1910. be extended to enable a Municipal Corporatior. to set aside out of Us various accounts moneys to form a fund for the payment of accident compensation, and from lime to time to in vest any moneys so as to set aside and pay the proceeds of surli investment into the ■s-aid fund. Auckland. Wellington. Wajtganui, Invercargill. Carried at 19 12 (Jon fcrence. That section thirty-three of the -Municipal Corporations Act, 191.0, be amended to provide that in the case of a Borough Council widening streets or carrying out any public works which would increase the value of property in that neighbourhood, the owners of properties so affected should te compelled to contribute by special fate or otherwise a fair share of the eost of such work.— Christchurch. That in order to provide a bettor system of town-planning, and for the purpose of securing the best system of drainage, etc-, the Municipal Corporations Act, 190 S. bo amended to provide—(a) That consent to lay off a street shall not be given unless the plan submitted for approval shows the construction to extend to the boundary of the owners land, or to a. junction with-o' continuation of another street, ib) That, at the junction with another street running at right angles. the crossing front a new street shall be continued to the crown oi the old street, and be constructed with proper culverts and levels. —Palmerston North. That steps be taken to obtain Lite necessary authority enabling Borough Councils' to levy taxes as follows—l. A tax cit motor buses, lorries, carts, and other wheeled traffic of an excessively wearing nature. The proceeds to be devoted to the maintenance of roads. 2. A ticket stamp tax on entertainments held within the borough for other than public benefit, such as opera, vaudeville and picture entertainments. etc. The proceeds to be devoted to the maintenance of footpaths. X.B.— The maximum amount leviable in each ease to be fixed by Llte authorities. —-Hustings.

Thai: the Municipal Association he iirsorl t.• take such stops as will induce t-ie various .Municipal Councils to adopt live “Keep to the Deft" rule for pedosl nans. as i! now applies to vehicles, thus bringing all street traffic under one uniform rule. That local authorities he giy<?n power to refuse a permit to build a dwellinrhoii.se unless it is detached a distance nl lour (cct six inches from any of the bonndaru's of the land on which it is erected, or a distance of six feet from the oaves of a dwelling erected on the sanio P’.fog of lann.—Palmerston Xorth. Tluit tile present method of levying local bodies for the upkeep of Hospital and ( haritable Aid pc discontinued anil tlitit hi.spitals, etc., ho nationalised and the whole upkeep be met out of general revenue, the whole treatment, etc,, to lie free ~f cost t t patients, and the (Jovernment to he urged to bring down the ncee-sary legislation to give effect to same. Peione. That tl e Parliamentary form of ballot paper ho used at local elections and polls, in order that there may be uniformity in the mode of recording votes ;md to obviate Ihe difliculty in detecting plural voting now caused by the gumming down of the voter's number.— A nek la ml, fTi risteb urcb. We! 1 ington, Tlunedin. Palmerston Xorth. Cambridge. elreymoulh. I'oxton. Port Chalmers. That local bodies be allowed to provide facilities for their electors recording Uimt votes outside the Borough. County. Town District. etc., when elections or polls on lean and other proposals are placed before them, as at prese-nt a. number of electors are prevented from recording their vote owing to working in neighbouring cities and leaving their own district before the polling booths open and not returning till sifter they close—New Brighton. That the law relating to tailing at municipal elections should be altered so as to meet any contingency—such as happened ut the recent election—that is. by making provision for outside polling booths or by absentee voting.— 1 nvercargil!. That owing to the multiplicity of Acts governing local elections, consolidation is necessary to give the electoral law a continuous logical course. (The law governing local elections and polls is now contained in the Municipal Corporations Act. I 90S, the Bocal elections and Bolls Act, 19 OS. the Bocal .elections and Polls Amendment Acß Jf. I :}, the Local Bodies Boans Act.. 1013. the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act. lOOS, the Harbours Amendment Act. 1912. and consolidation is evidently desirable.) —Auckland. That legislation be obtained to give local bodies authority to tax the owners of motor vehicles for the purpose of maintaining roads injuriously affected by motor traffic.—-Wellington. That the executive of the Municipal and Counties’ Association jointly draw up a set of regulations fixing the limit of speed, etc., and request the Government to include its recommendations in an amended Act.— Palmerston North. That the Government be requested to bring nn Act to regulate to a uniform speed motor cars and motor bicycles through'.ul the dominion, particularly when tr i veiling through boroughs, and that any infringement of the speed limit, be made an offence under the Police cf fences Act.—Greytown. That the speed limit of motor cars and motor cycles bo fixed in every borough. town district and country by (tie Police Depart men I.—Wanganui. That the Act be amended in the direction of providing for a. universal Saturday Ita 1 f-b ol i day. Nelson.