TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, 11th AUGUST, 1937. STREET WIDENING.

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3938, 11 August 1937, Page 6

TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, 11th AUGUST, 1937. STREET WIDENING.

THE progress of buildings in Sloane Street has now advanced to a stage which clearly reveals the new alignment of that thoroughfare, and it is apparent that a considerable improvement is being effected. A treacherous “ bottle-neck ” will be removed, and traffic will move much more freely when the final stage of the work now in progress is reached. Up to the present time, however, the Borough Council has been engaged in negotiation with affected property-owners, but arrangements should by now permit an announcement of the terms. Maybe it is unusual for a public work to advance so far as this one has without some indication being given the public of the cost involved and the methods of finance which it is proposed to adopt, although it is politic to remember that negotiation takes much time and patience. Moreover, it is well recognised that in this instance the affected propertyowners were themselves anxious to assist the local authority in the arrangement of this wideing scheme, and accepted readily the principle ol betterment as an off-set against compensation. Yet it would seem that the time must surely have arrived for the local authority to inform the public whether there will be any call on the general revenues of the borough, and if so, how much; or, failing that, whether forward commitments are being entered into bj- way of loan proposals which embrace a general scheme of footpath improvement. So far the only indication of cost has been the approval and authorisation of survey charges to be paid, presumably, out of the general account, and this can be—and has been—construed to create a precedent for the liquidation of the costs by a direct claim on the yearly revenue. That, of course, would not be a wise procedure, because it would mean the setting aside of a good deal of usual maintenance in other parts of the borough, and already' there is much complaint that the Council is neglecting certain streets. This unrest is growing, and must soon break into open complaint unless the Council can give some assurance of its spending policy. Even allowing that the property-owners in Sloane Street have met the Council in a magnanimous way by setting I aside all questions of compensation ]

for the land taken, there remains the cost of building as an altogether too considerable item for individual finance, seeing that the set-back of the buildings is essentially a work of public benefit. There remains the Highways Board as a possible contributor, but it suggests in any review that the main burden of cost must fall on the borough finances; and the time should flow have arrived for negotiation to reveal definite arrangements and considered estimates of cost. In that case the Council should disclose to the public w-hat has been arranged, the measure of assistance the property-owners have given, and the amount and methods of contemplated finance to complete the work. Rumour, of course, always keeps a ceaseless vigil, and at times can be a fickle and mischievous jade; and in this instance rumour is already astir. Some there are who lay claim to know what has been paid or what is payable, and moreover a clear inference is drawn that the general maintenance of the borough streets is being sacrificed for Sloane Street. Suspicions and doubts of this sort are unhealthy and unwelcome. Only the Council can overtake rumour and restore the confidence which is so necessary in our community, and it is not too much to hope that the Council will give a very early indication of the nature of the commitments undertaken and how it proposes to finance this far-sighted and highly desirable public work.