HEAVY TRAFFIC.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18637, 5 August 1930, Page 8

HEAVY TRAFFIC.

ANOTHER CONFERENCE DESIRED. MAYOR SAYS “NO.” MACKENZIE COUNCIL WILL INSIST. The Mackenzie County Council, as ->ne of the licensing authorities of No. 17 Heavy Traffic District, has reuested the distributing body of the listrict, the Timaru Borough Council, ,o convene a conference of the licensng authorities concerned, for the purpose of arriving at what it considers t, more equitable percentage basis for he distribution of heavy traffic fees. After the last conference in Timaru, when the appointment was fixud, Mackenzie County expressed dissatisfaction at the basis arrived at, and following the mistake in mileage of the Waitaki County, suggested another conference. At yesterday’s meeting of the Coun:il, the Town Clerk of Timaru 'Mr E. Killick), advised that the matter had been placed before the Mayor, who was the Council’s delegate and chairman of the recent conference, and he had given the obvious ruling that the question of the allocation of the heavy traffic fees was fully discussed and decided by a majority of the conference, and that such a resolution had already been acted upon and should hold good for at least twelve months. The Mayor did not see that he could possibly call another conference straight away to deal with a question that had already been discussed, and decided by the recent conference. The schedule the writer had prepared and circulated to the conference showed a steady increase in the proportion of the total mileage in Timaru. and therefore if they continued on the same basis as hertofore, it doubtless would have been found that Timaru would receive for the current year a greater proportion of the fees than agreed upon by the conference. The engineer (Mr D. Jeune) stated that he had advised the Timaru Borough Council that a dissentient body had the right to call another conference, and had received the following reply from the Town Clerk:—“With reference to your letter of the 18th July, his Worship the Mayor cannot agree to calling another conference at present. I may point out that in any case such a conference would evidently be quite useless, as there seems little doubt but that the Timaru Borough Council could not agree to your proposed apportionment. \ You, of course, have your remedy under the regulations by appealing to a Magistrate against such apportionment.” The Waimate County Council rdvised that they would support the request to call a further conference. The Waimate Borough wrote stating that they had decided that no action be taken, while the Levels County Council advised that Mr T. B. Garrick had been appointed to attend any conference called. The chairman (Mr C. J. Talbot>: “ We should insist on calling the conference. If the Timaru borough will not do so some other body will.” Mr Carter: “We should not be bluffed like that.” The chairman: “We should call a conference and ask Timaru to attend.” The allocations would not be paid till the end of the year, and the position should be cleared up.

It was decided to insist on Timaru borough calling a conference and failing this that Mackenzie take the matter in hand.