BOARD SHACKLED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19626, 21 October 1933, Page 3

BOARD SHACKLED

ROYAL COMMISSIONS HARBOUR IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES A discussion on Royal Commissions was opened at yesterday's meeting of the Timaru Harbour Board, by Mr A. F. Campbell, who said that he had been informed that the Board was the only one in New’ Zealand which was restricted by a Royal Commission. He asked if members thought that it w’as right that the Board should be the only one in the Dominion to be so restricted. Why should they not be allowed to go on with necessary work, if thev thought it advisable to do so? He considered that steps should be taken to endeavour to break away from such a shackle. Mr A. F. Flatman: Why should it apply to one Board only? Mr J. Kennedy said that it would apply generally if big works were going to be carried out in any harbour. He thought that it was a very big break. North Island Boards. The chairman (Mr G. T. Dawson) said that he did not wish to point his finger at any Board, but there were harbours in the North Island where a tremendous amount of money had been sunk, and still these places had no harbour. If these places had had Royal Commissions they would have been saved a great deal of money. He made reference to the £200,000 scheme which had been put up a year or so ago. and concerning which he had had to go to Wellington to support. To-day he thought that the worst thing that could have happened to Timaru would have been for that scheme to have gone through. The Royal Commission was the first body which put a nail in its coffin. To-day the harbour was carrying on equally as well as though the scheme had been gone ahead with. Had the Boards in the North Island gone in for Royal Commissions, they would not have been paying the interest they were to-day. Wrong Way Round. Mr W. T. Ritchie said that he thought the thing was the wrong way round. It seemed futile and useless that they should have to go to the expense of a Royal Commission to start with, and then have to go through the expense of getting sanction to do the work, and last of all going to the ratepayers, who had the final say. The ratepayers were the ones who should give the sanction, and they should have the first, say. Mr A. R. Guild said that there were only a few harbour boards which had rating power, and that might have something to do with the appointment of Royal Commissions. Though he had been against the idea of Royal Commissions, he would not depart from it to-day, because it was a safeguard against wild cat expenditure. The chairman said that the Board had seven safeguards. Any scheme had first to go to the Local Bills Committee of the House, to the Marine Department, then the House of Representatives, the Legislative Council, Loans Board and finally the ratepayers. As Mr Ritchie said, the ratepayers should have the first say, for they were the ones to say whether they wanted a harbour or not. Mr R. S. Goodman said he thought they should be grateful to Royal Commissions, when they looked back on the old days, when there were many controversies. It might have been that the harbour would have been constructed at the mouth of the Opihi river. Mr Guild: They had a Board there, actually gazetted. The subject was not discussed further.