Rates Referred To Parliamentarians

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31057, 12 May 1966, Page 22

Rates Referred To Parliamentarians

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, May 11. The Labour Party conference this afternoon sifted through a series of remits on housing and local bodies, and referred the whole question of rates to the Parliamentary Labour Party for consideration.

Remits endorsed included the following: —

Implementation of a programme for the construction of the maximum number of houses.

Provision of flats or other suitable accommodation for shift workers in essential services near their places of employment.

Provision of departmental and pool houses at reasonable rentals to all essential Government employees.

The conference rejected on the grounds of impracticability a remit that the Government control all urban housing subdivisions and beach divisions.

It accepted a recommendation that under a Labour Government land be purchased and developed and made available for local and State housing schemes. Among remits the conference referred to the Parliamentary Labour Party for consideration were the following:

That efficiency in local government be encouraged by simplifying legislation so that municipalities and

counties operate under the same act. That voting on local polls be extended to cover householders as well as ratepayers. That the one-person-one vote principle be applied to local body elections. Acting on the advice of the conference committee, dele-

gates rejected a remit that steps be taken to prevent local bodies from spending large and/or excessive amounts on architectural and other fees before local authorities loans board sanction or a plebiscite of ratepayers on a proposed project. “We think local bodies should accept their responsibilities,” said the committee convener, Mr E. A. Waters.