CITY COUNCIL.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19176, 6 December 1927, Page 16

CITY COUNCIL.

LAST NIGHT'S MEETING.

The fortnightly meeting of the City Council was held last evening*. Those present were:—The Mayor (Mr J. K. Archer), and Councillors K, K. McCombs, T, H. Butter* field, I', W\ Sharpe, R. M. Macfarlane, J. W, Roberts, G. Manning, C. Carr, ij. H. Andrews, A. K. Herbert, J. \\' t Bcanland, and M. E. Lyons.

The financial statement gave the following details:—General rate levied i125,'146 8s sd, collected standing £112,206 17s 7d. The receipts since the last statement amounted to £51,178 5s lid, and accounts authorised for payment came to 153,817 Us 7d.

The Mayor said the Town Clerk (Mr J. S. Neville} had, in the speaker's unavoidable absence, ntteuded the funeral of the late Mr Robert W. Parker, who was for some years a channel sweeper in the Council's service.

A motion of sympathy was passed with the relatives of the deceased.

The Mayor said a copy of the Public V orks Amendment Act had been received from Cr. D. G. Sullivan, M.P., Section 7 o£ which provided that except with the prior consent of the Minister a local authority shall not authorise or suiter any encroachment on a road if such eucroachment would, or might interfere with, or in any way obstruct, the right of the Crown or of any local authority or public body to construct, place, maintain, alter, remove, or otherwise deal with any electric wires, telephone wires, telegraph wires, or pneumatic tubes on, over, or under such road. The Ctiy Engineer had reported that this section restricted the powers of local bodies and instanced the case of building hoardings. This was forwarded to Cr. Sullivan, who had furnished a statement made by tho Leader of the Legislative Council to the effect that it was not tho intention to iutorfere with tho right of local bodies except when the obstruction might interfere with electric wire work, in which case tho Minister's consent was also to be Obtained.

Cr. lioberts gave notice to move the following remit to the Municipal Conference to amend the Municipal Corporations Act: "That each licensing authority be supplied with a plan of amusement houses, showing the number of scats iti each division, viz., stalls (front), stalls (back), circle, and gallery." "That the sale of reserved seats shall cease 30 minutes before each performance or showing." "That the inspector havo the right to challenge any seat marked reserved." "That prices for each division be advertised for each performance." "That any breach shall render a license liable to be cancelled." Abattoir and Reserves. The Abattoir and .Reserves Committee reported as follows:—A request was recently recoived from the Canterbury Butchers' Industrial Union of Employers that the Committee go into the question of reducing the fees charged against them for the use of the abattoir, on the ground that the profit from the abattoir during the last two years has been in excess of the profit which the Council is legally entitled to make. A similar request was received some time ago from the meat export companies, and is at present* receiving the attention of the Minister for Agriculture. In view of this fact and the likelihood of further loans being raised for abattoir extensions, the committee has suggested that the master butchers' request be held over until the end of the present linancial year, when the whole matter will be reviewed.

The Superintendent of Parks and Gardens has conferred with the Spreydon Children's Playground Committee in reference to the selection of the equipment to be erected on the playground site, and the following apparatus has been decided upon:—Ono giant stride, one set of boat swings, one set of combined swings, one rock-a-byo swing, one set of see-saws, also the construction of a sand-pit. Prices were obtained for the supply of this equipment from five firms, those submitted by the Williamson Engineering Co., totalling £240 10s, being the lowest. The Playground Committeo proposes itself to croct the equipment, and in addition a small shelter-shed, a plan of which haß been submitted to the City Engineer for approval. The Playground Committee has paid to the Council the sum of .£194 10s, this having been raised by means of a fete held in the Park, and lias applied for the Council's usual subsidy of 10s in the £ on the amount mentioned. The committee recommends that the subsidy be paid, and that authority be given for tho placing of the order for equipment with the Williamson Engineering Co. Tho Elmwood Park Playground Committee has applied for and been given permission to erect the following equipment on the site allotted for a children's playground in Ehnwood Park:—Two see-saws, one set of four swings, ono giant stride, one set of combined swings. It is recommended that the tender of £520 from H. Woodcock and Son for the erection of a pavilion in tho Spreydon Domain be accepted, Numerous requests have boen recoived from tho sports clubs using Barrington Park that the Council erect conveniences there. A sum of £l3O was placed on tho current year's estimates for this purpose, but in preparing tho estimates the necessity for connecting the conveniences with the sewer was not anticipated; consequently tho amount above referred to is not sufficient to meet the cost. Tho committee has therefore written to the various sports clubs concerned stating that the estimated cost of suitable conveniences for men and women is £3OO, and asking if they are prepared to contribute £IOO towards the cost of the proposed conveniences.

An enquiry has been received as to whether, in the event of a tennis club being formed, the committee would approve of it having the use of the tennis court on the Council's small reserve in Rhodes street. The court is at present leased to Miss H. Gibson for use by the pupils of Rangi Ruru School, subject to the public having the right of access thereto between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily, except on Saturdays, when access may bo had from 1 p.m. onwards. Miss Gibson has intimated that she has no objection to the proposal, and tbo committee has therefore replied to the effect that, subject to the proposed club holding itself responsible for the maintenance and amenities of the reserve, and also to no interference being offered to Miss Gibson's right to uso the court, the renuest will be acceded to. In reply to a question concerning Barrington Park, Cr. Carr said it was suggested that part of the subsidy be paid this year and the balance next year. The report was adopted. By-laws and Finance Committee. The By-laws, Finance, and Departmental Committee reported as follows: Messrs Hampton Bros, have applied for permission to install one 500-gallon petrol tank and bowser at No. 400 Oxford terrace in connexion with the tanks already in • use. Permission has already been granted for the installation of a 1000 gallon tank, but if the present application is granted it will not be necessary to install the latter tank. The report of the Chief City Inspector on the application is satisfactory, and the committee has thercforo granted the request. At tho request of the Heathcote County Council, the committee hap granted permission for the county's ranger as well as the City Council's ranger, to impound cattle straying on the boundary roads. Municipal Conference. The committee recommends that tho following additional remits be forwarde dto the secretary of the Municipal Association of New Zealand for consideration at the next annual'conference of delegates:— (1) Insurance Fund —That in view of the pronounced success that has attended the establishment, by municipal bodies, of their own fire and accident funds, it would be advisable to extend the process, under Section 113 of the Municipal Corporations Act, to include comprehensive rates for cars, trucks, and other vehicles. (2) Renewal Funds—That this conference is of the opinion that renewal funds are of such a nature, and required for such a purpose, that they should be under the control of the local authority rather than of independent Commissioners, and recommends that Sections 115 and 116 of tho M.C. Act shall be amended accordingly. _ (3) Superannuation and Transfers—That in view of the fact that the Government Dep.art ™ eD . tß Most local bodies have adopted the National Provident Fund for superannuation purposes, some steps should be taken to eliminato the hardship now involved in the transfer of an officer from the Government to a municipality, or from one municipality to another, as the result of which continuity of superannuation contributions is broken, ana the contributor seriously nreiudiced. '

(4) Streets less than 66ft wide—That the Town-Planning Act be amended to provide that the certificate of the Director of TownPlanning that a road leiss than one chain wide in a subdivision conforms to townplanning principles, etc., then the said certificate shall override the provisions of "The Public Works Act," regarding the width of streets.

(5) Air Space Adjoining Buildings—That Section 299 of "The Municipal Corporations Act" be amended to provide that where a building to be used as flats is situate at •tjie corner of two streets not less than 50 feet wide and one floor or more above the ground floor, the provision of 15 feet air space at the rear or side of the building be dispensed with so far sb it applied to the height of the ground floor. (6) Payment of Preliminary Costs ro Proposed Loans —That Section 5 of "The Local Bodies Loans Act, 1926" be amended to empower a local authority to pay the costs of the preliminary stepß to he taken as 6et out in Sections 9 to 19 of the Act, out of the loan.

With reference to Mr F. Rickerby's application for a license for a petrol service station on the site formerly occupied by Mr H. R. Smith, it has been ascertained that Mr Rickerby had been selling petrol at this station, for some years, and he carried on until four years ago, when, owing fo illhealth, he sold bis stock and business to Mr Smith. In view of the fact that the Town-Planning Committee was not previously acquainted that Mr Rickerby originally held a license to selj petrol in the locality, and that the pumps have been installed for some time and are still in position, this committee recommends that a license be granted. The . report -was adopted.