SUBURBS OF TIMARU.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13661, 1 August 1908, Page 6

SUBURBS OF TIMARU.

MUNICIPALISATION PROPOSALS,

A petition has been prepared and some signatures obtained to it, asking that the, Borough of Timaru may be extended to include the southern suburbs between North street and Otipua road to Ross s corner. Another proposal was placed before a small meeting of suburban ratepayers in* the. South School last evening by Mr Joseph Mahonv, ti"> member of the County Council for Glen-iti riding, withm which the suburbs lie.- This proposal was to form an independent borough, completely surrounding Timaru. Mr Mahony brought to the meeting a form of petition to the Governor, carefully drawn up, requesting 1 his Excellency to constitute, area described by boundaries' into a borough to be called the 1 Borough of Glen-iti. The outer boundary may be sketched ae follows: Starting from, the sea at Dabbing Rocks, - following ; the course jor Luxmoore, crock to the main'road, then along iliat road southward to Macintosh, I road on Belfield Hill, then by Macintosh, road K> the Uia XorJi load and by thai, road to Waim'ataitai creek, then following this trtek upwards". 10 a point ni line with the. upp.v boundary of iUghfield, by this boundary", to Wai-iti road, by a line in continuation of ifche boundary lino acitte the.road and down to Otipua. creek, and then by the creek and 'northern, boundary, of the" Otipua lagoon reserve to the sea. The inner boundary is the sea at each /end and the land boundary of Timaru. • A county map. was also produced with the area, ihappol OUD..; '■' The petition sets forth that the area proposed to be included is about 1350. acrts, that it has a population of at least iWOO, at a low estimate, that.it- is not dtsirable, although close to the Borcrugh of Timaru, to incorporate the area with that borough, for the reason that the existing liabilities of the . borough should a.'* wholly or in part be Borne by the petitioners. It was desirable' to lorm a n«w' borough, because the lands. - referred to were so closey: populated as to warrant the execution of drainage, and water suppiy, and additional provision for public heauu, and street iigutiug and ouuvtiu-. ence, while the Counties Act was not sufficiently wide; in its iscope to authorise! the Levels County. Council to execute all said works or to grant the petitioners such conveniences. The petition : ako asked that the new borough be divided into three wards. , There were about a 1 dozen' pereons present. Some difficulty was experienced in

getting a chairman, several persons nominated declining, the honour or the responsibility, but alb length. Councillor

1". Hawkey consented to act, premising that he had no idea' what Mr Mahony ivais going to: to.k abou't. ~Mr Mahony began his address by re-

ferring to the inadequacy; of the powers of the Levels County council to provide drainage and other conveniences tor.the suburban ra'tepayeis. The Council had done itd best not only by applying the powers .it pos&esised, but aivso to get powers euiargea, m prooi ol w uich hequoted a remit sent to the Counties Conference, passed there unanimously, and recommended to the Government asking thjit County. Councils should be given the same powers as municipalftdeß. in dealing with ■ congested areas. He then spoke of the demand upon the riding rates for main roads and bridges, which must be met before any of the rates could be devoted to riding (including suburban) purposes, and;' he complained that! Gleniti riding was handicapped 'by- having a small share of "main." roads. This he had tried" ; in» vittn :tq?get remedied. • The county was just now faced with a heavy expenditure on bridges, which' would be of no benefit -to ihe suburbs of Tiinaru, though the ratepayers there would' have to bear a share of the burden. Their one way of escape was to leave the county, and tihis they could do either by joining Ximaru or by forming a borough.' If they could join under a system.of differential rating that might, be the best way, but the abolition of'the ward system that had been determined oh'.had made that impossible. Another argument against joining Timaru was that Khey would have to share the debt.of about £150,000. Some people talked about the " assets " against the debt, but he contended'that there were no asseis until t the debt was paid, except the . municipal sections in "town and the Kaincliff reserve. Mr Mabony, proceeded to criticise the way the Underground Drainage Bill . was • put through; there had been too much secrecy about- it; and ; the .numerous'airiendments which the Mayor had boasted of wer-erriaae under pressure from the Levels County Council. He denied that there : would • be ! any gain in- joining , Timaru through cheaper waver, „ for ■■ if the rate- was re-. ducedthe valuations would go up, and they would have .to pay as much as nowThe Hon. W. •• Hall-Jones, when' ActingPremier, had been asked to legislate'to

give suburban customers for water "a right of appeal' against, excessive valuations by the borough valuer, but nbthing had been done. The County Council could not, but an independent Borough could, demand access to the sea for their drainage, if.Timaru. would not let; them use their drains, and they would.be their own masters in regard to drainage, • kerbs and channels, lighting and so on. Xhe-rate to be. collected this year from the area specified was about £IOOO, and with Government subsidy, share of licences, dog" taz, etc., they would have about £ISOO to work on. After reading the petition and describing

the boundaries Mr Mahony,.'-said the formation of a small borough, beside a large ,one would be no novelty, instancing those about Invercargill ', and Wanganui. He proceeded to speak of the growing cost of boundary" roads, forced on the riding by the Timaru Council. He.; then argued thatl if they joined Timaru tiey must have, another loan to extend the drainage, and they might just as well raise ib for "them-■ selves;' and instead of sharing in a new loan tio increase the water supply, they could get 'a new supply • for themselves from; the Tengawai, a survey made some years ago having shown that this could be done for £20,000. In reply to questions, Mr Mahony said he believed a'. • new' tions, Mr Mahony said he believed a new borough co/uld carry on as economically as by joining the Borough, "and that if the boundary roads continued to cost as much it would be only reasonable as a borough needed wider streets than a county. If they remained in the county they might have to submiti to a special rate for those boundary roads. Mr H. Toneycliffe said it would be im- ] possible to supply so large an area with water for anything like £20,000. Mr D. Watson criticised Mr Mahony's change of front «ince he stood in the same place advising them to join the Borough; and all had he now said was an argument [ for joining Timaru. Timaru would get;'all the-licenses as now. The best thing-tlhey could do!was to join Timaru.. ■•'.-/ Mr.Hbllow and. others concurred;and Mr Mahony senr. spoke strongly, against; any proposal to. include ; the area beyond Otipua;road. ' Mr H. Toneycliffe, who had charge of the petition for'annexation, stated in reply to a question that it dealtonly wih. "our end," from.. Norh. street J to Boss's corner.

Ho : had stopped going round with ifc_ at. Mr Mahony's request until ; this meeting had-been held. . Mr Hollow moved : •'.'. That,: this meeting favours joining the present-Borough of Timaru and vrauld advise ''all suburban ratepayers to do soas "early as .possible." ■ This was- seconded, but' Mr. Mahony - ob- .- jecting that some plan should be-indicated, ■ the chairman suggested that an adverse motion should be avoided,.-'and after ii little talk about it; the motion was withdrawn, in favour of a vote of -thanks proposed by.Mr Watson; .this was- carried,' and a vote of thanks to the' chairman closed the meeting. ''■-.'■ • - , Mr'Mahony invites the ratepayers on th£ northern side to meet him in'theWaimatj'tai schoolroom on -Monday evening, for the same purpose. .- •.