COUNTY AMALGAMATION

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3938, 11 August 1937, Page 12

COUNTY AMALGAMATION

WAIKATO COUNCIL NOT IN FAVOUR. PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATIVES TO BE INFORMED. Disapproval of the scheme for the amalgamation of the Waikato, Waipa, and Raglan counties, as outlined by the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, in Hamilton recently, was formally expressed at Tuesday's meeting of the Waikato County Council, and it was decided to convey to the members of Parliament concerned notice of the attitude adopted by the Council. The question of the proposed amalgamation was introduced by the chairman, who reported to the Council on a meeting which he had had with the chairman of the other two Councils. Mr Sampson said he had come to the conclusion that there was not the slightest doubt that amalgamation would result in a loss of efficiency, the proposed new county being too large for efficient administration by one body. The county solicitors had been instructed to draft a letter of protest to the Minister, and it was now necessary for the Council to express its opinion in- the form of a motion. Mr Sampson said that the Local Body (Amalgamation Schemes) Bill as outlined by the Minister in Hamilton did not seem to have one single point to commend it; even administration costs seemed likely to rise. He suggested that the Council should pass a motion disapproving the Bill, and that copies should be sent to the members of Parliament concerned, so that they would know definitely what attitude to adopt when the Bill came before, the House. “ This seems to me the best weapon we can use,” Mr Sampson said, “ for members are not likely to fly against public opinion. There has been much publicity regarding local body reform, but the Minister formulated his Bill without consulting the local bodies as to what reforms were wanted. In fact, there does not seem to be much reform at all In his proposals, and he is certainly doing nothing about internal bodies.” Agreement with the opinions expressed by Mr Sampson was voiced by Messrs Primrose and Walter, the latter suggesting that in the interests of economy there was more need for amalgamation of electorates than of counties. « • “ Apparently the Minister is determined to carry on unless the party caucus turns his proposal down,” said Mr Young, “ but if members note the general opposition to the scheme it is questionable whether members of Parliament will let the Bill come forward.”

Mr Young continued that in addition to passing a motion of disapproval the Council should begin the preparation of its case against amalgamation in case it had to go before a commission, a contingency which seemed inevitable if the Bill went through. UNANIMOUS DECISION. It was accordingly decided unanimously on the motion of the chairman that the Council disapprove the Minister’s proposals for the amalgamation of the counties of Waikato, Waipa, and Raglan, and the matter of preparing a case against amalgamation was left in the hands of the county clerk for the time being. “ The Minister’s idea is that Waipa and W’aikato are rich counties,” said Mr Sampson, commenting on the possibility that amalgamation aimed at assisting poorer counties at the expense of the richer ones. It was true that these two counties contained much rich land, but they were divided into small holdings, and the real wealth of the counties was better estimated by the amount collected in rates. Raglan county, for example, had a much better collection record than Waikato.

On the motion of Mr Walter it was decided to inform members of Parliament interested in the Council’s decision, and to ask them to oppose the Bill.