"IN THE DARK."

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 920, 13 September 1910, Page 5

"IN THE DARK."

FORMATION OF THE HUTT ROAD.

"A BIG FIGHT."

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR OF PETONE.

"A JOHNSON & JEFFRIES AFFAIR."

At the meeting of the Petone Borough Council last evening the Mayor, Mr. J.! W. M'Ewan, delivered a lengthy response to tho following question, of which notice had been given by Councillor Pipor: "Will the Mayor give such instruc- : tions as may be' necessary ,to enable.. copies vof agreement' (if any), letters,■;.. :. "Or .other conimunications,, between the •■Government and local; authorities, or ■/'". Hutt Road Board, in! respect' of the •. formation of' this.. road, being pro- - cured for information of.- the coun- : cHr,:._.;;.■; /v.'./ ;/■'•. .. ': \ •: An Obscure Position..;-.,, ■The Mayor/said" he was prepared to give any information in his power, but it was only quite recently that information had been made available. .:It was only, right that the council should be made aware of-the position with regard.to this road. A serious responsibility .would Test upon it when ,the road was completed. The Hutt Railway and Road ■ImprovementAct of 1903 made provision for the formation of I this road, the reclamation of certain lands, and the/construction of a road or street of not less than 80 feet,, the road now known-as,the Hutt;Rbad.' For tho purposes of this work funds'were to' bo provided amounting to ; , Under the Act .-the Colonial....- Treasurer .was.' authorised .'■ to, issue ■ • debentures .or other Government securities ...for ■'•' four 'years; the amount -in, any . one, year,mot to exceed .£25,000.., It was, contemplated at that-.'time that; the complete > work should .'cost • JiIOU.OOO, spread, as stated; over four years,'Having read; the clauses in the■ Hutt Railway and Road Improvement: Act, 1903, Vrhioh provide that the cost of the ■Hutt Road shall. bB borne by the Petone: Council and other' municipalities, .the Mayor resumed as-Mows B.'. -. •■•■.,-.■. -■' ~:..-.'-/ -...■--'.-.,-':•;,■':-■ ' .■'.'■"-.-.'' ■"■' ~.. 'y.'':-.' : -.'''''; i ;::;-J:Uhforase.eii;Outlay.-;'-"I .wish to. say that in. 1905 it '.was discovered that the suinof £100,000 was 'absolutely inadequate' for -the work .proposed under this Aet 6M903..'' In 1905 'an additional expenditure 'of .£IOO,OOO was authorised. ■" In .1907 a/further .addition of'/.£loo,ooo\was made in, the estimated cost of the'work, making / a total, of\£3oo,ooo.■;■' Now. in this, year: the Governliiant has asked for .with' which-to. complete the. work." Speaking ;in the House-on. September. 7, the/ Hon. J...-A.. Millar is reported to have said ■that'the.-road would;.cost JEhO.OOO, but in abatement made on September 9 he said, it/would'cost £100,000./; I have to. assume, that "when : the..Minlster .spoke oh. September.-? he was. speaking without his .book, and that ; . : on looking into the :matter he discovered the real cost to.the 'local bodies wquld.be.-the-.sum.he; mentioned/ on - September 9, namely, £100,000. -I. have;'to say in regard to; this that there, is no cdntrkct between .the.council and' the' : Government 'iti, reference: to • : this matter. /There is- no agreement and no. contract. ■'..-■: •'■'-'"■''■',■-'■ ' ; - i ' : '•'■'.';: ; ■;.'■ ..*''' Local'-.'Bodies- Ignored. ' '•'; "Further, -cue' council'was 'not consulted .about the matter; either in 1903 or in ; 1905 when another Bill was before, ■ the House.-.. The only'.:,intimation that this.council .ever received v froni the Gov- ., ernment : was : a' telegram ' in.-'- November, 1907,' to th«:,effect'that the. Hutt Railway Bijl had been -brought down ,by: GoyerriSr's Message!,, No; copy! of, the Bill was sent to the council at .tliat lime, and it had. rib;'opportunity, of considering in : any-way llie provisions of" this '.-.Act. j Noiv I _think,. gnntlemen, that when, this to ' lay up6h r /thiS . councilin. common,', with other councils ~-» very serious liability, someone ought to have seon that: the. Council-was placed in possession ' of. what/ Government proposed to do.-.: The .council,'- instead,' w«s absolutely' in the.:dark, and,,strange to say, was;completely in;the'dark right up to '1909, -when ,a, letter ,was received' from the./member for'- tlio district pointing, out the effect of, Clause ,7,; the clause , I read relating to-the.construction of the road" and the /portion/ of .the/cost to be borne, by. the. various. ■ local; bodies. -v..,:'v\ 'v.The Liability. :■'■/;. ■ > "If'this council, ha' 3 : to face the liability imposed upon/it' by this./ Act; ,and the• subsequent Acts, and. if' we "aro to accept as the .basis:-of .our contribution the basis laid down/in the Hutt Road Act, it will amount to seven twentyfourths of/'the'total cost."''■'!/'■■

;. "Thirty : thousand I", ej a eulated, '.a councillor. / .;.'■ ;-'-.: :' ,'•'■'■',/ ', "■■?"'■ '~

"I .wish furthor to point out," .continued Mr. M'Ewan, "that even if. the Makara ;County: Council is joined ;as a contribute ing party.this council will have to contribute a sum of something like towards,the cost of: this road. Not only will 'this ' liability rest upon,. us, /but, we •will also' have to provide our share of the -'cost'.; ■.'of, maintaining theroad. Already that portion of ■■■■ the' road within the Onslow liprough costs' us something like dE2SO a year, and if that small'portion costsus .£250 ayear, we may assumo that our-share of.thecost"of maintaining the whole length of tho.Toad will amount to. a; considerable sum'." ./. -V , ..:' / : , Councillor Harding:'We could have a railway for: £0000/ per/mile- r' ■;. The 'Mayor:.;l -don't, know. what/they/ want to do, but there are a number of things to be considered. First of all, you have : their estimate of .£IOO,OOO for the whole job,'and then you have the actual fact that the whole cost is .£335,000; , ; A thing that will have to. be borne' in mind is, that' 115 chains of; the road -is irithjn ■■ our, ..borough, . I : contend that if .we 'have, to. face ;: our share 0f..: the- cost of, ;, maintaining the ilutt Eond from out boundary to the city ..of Wellington, these and other parties ; concerned are.entitled to pay their share towards maintaining the portion within our, borough. ...It is,evident to me that there is a big fight before us. There is-no doubt that - the local bodies are expected to find this money. • . A Councillor: They will simply bill us for.the'interest? '. '"

The Mayor:, Oh, no; you have to go to 'he State Guaranteed Advances Office in the; ordinary. way. .

' A Councillor:. We will have to fight the Government. It'will be a Johnson and Jeffries affair!

The Mayor: "I. feel this about it; first of all we have been kept in the dark in the matter for a good many years, and secondly, the cost of the'road serais to me to be exorbitant.. Further, I say we should certainly have been taken into ■. the . confidence of the Government before they brought these" proposals before the House. I question very much the power of any Government to impose on us burdens of this nature, without our knowledge and consent." . A Councillor: What can they do if w© refuse to pay? ■' ". ... , The Mayor: Put m a receiver, I suppose. '■'-_,"' X ' .-■"'' '.. Councillor Young: Why,_ they would not.receive enough to pay it! The Mayor remarked that _ Councillor Piper, who was then absent, intended to move-in the matter. Meantime, further information would, if possible, be obtained. . ■ ... ■'..-..