ONSLOW RATEPAYERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 467, 27 March 1909, Page 7

ONSLOW RATEPAYERS.

MEETING AT KHANDALLAH. LOAN PROPOSALS ENDORSED. With tho object of enlightening the ratepayers of tho Khandallah ward as to the valuo and extent of tho undertakings covered by tho £30,000 loan, tho council ia seeking their permission to borrow. Tho Mayor (Mr. J. G. Ifarkuess) addressed a well-attended meeting thero last evening. Some of the councillors woro also present.

Introducing tho business of tho meeting, tho Mayor said that it was the most important proposal placed before them since tho constitution of tho borough; ho invited free discussion, and tho council courted tho fullest inquiry as to tho purport of those loans. Tho country had been passing through a pciiod_ of financial stringency, 'yet the permits issued for building purposes in tho borough showed that white other districts had cither been brought to a standstill or gone back, they in Onslow had gono steadily forward. A return he had had prepared showed that tho number of building permits issued for tho first two mouths of the year totalled 53, and approximated in value £20,114, an incrcaso of £1890 on tho corresponding period in 1908, when 45 permits, equal to £18,224, were issued. (Applause.) The money to bo raised, continued tho speaker, covered tbreo undertakings, and it would bo competent for tho , ratepayers to accept or reject any ono of them, or tho lot, if they saw fit. Regarding tho town hall, for which £1000 would bo raised, tho Mayor said that there was a certain clement of luxury in having tho building, which, at a pinch, could bo dono without. At present tho council offices in Wellington cost £90 annually for rent, although a material saving had been effected by sub-lotting ono of tho rooms. The actual rent paid would cover tho interest on tho hall at Khandallah, whero the headquarters' of the council would bo situated, and the incomo derived from tho letting of tho hall should meet tho cost of its maintenance. No levy of rato would ho necessary in this case. Tho water supply loan would bo guaranteed by a special area approximating in valuo £233,356. Tho prounderpins head was for a sum of £19,700 at 5i per cent, (including sinking fund). Under tho Local Bodies' Loan Amendment Act, it might bo possible to borrow at 3£ per cent., under a system by which tho debt would bo cleared in 41 years. Instead of calling up the whole of the loan, and so levying a rato of ljd. in tho £, it v was proposed to raise £4500 for the dam, £100 for tho road, and £4400 for tho reticulation, leaving £10,700 for future requirements, and necessitating for tho present a rate of five-tenths of a ponnv in tho £ only. They were actually committed to this undertaking by the purchaso of ,tho catchment area. Tho drainage proposal involved a special area aggregating in valuo £193,204, which at 53-64 d. in tho £ would produco £667 for interest. As with tho water supply, the council proposed to raiso only what was immediately required— namely, £6000, which would cover the cost of septic tanks at Tyrce's creek and tho Kauvarra stream, the main arterial pipes, and tho drainage of tho populated parts of the IvhandaUak and Ngaio wards, Kaiwarra being already supplied with a svstcm. , The Mayor concluded by replying to recent criticisms by newspaper correspondents, and aftor a number of questions had been dealt with, tho meeting unanimously endorsed all thrco proposals: