TROUBLE BREWING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1108, 22 April 1911, Page 5

TROUBLE BREWING.

$_ t THE HUTT ROAD BILL OP COSTS. t "I must now refer to the Hutt Road," ' said the Mayor of the Hutt (Mr. E. P. a Bunny) last evening, during the course - of his 'address to tho electors. "This , question is one which all local bodies i affected ought to carefully consider." Mr. , Buuny went on to explain that in tho 0 beginning an Act was passed for the 1 straightening of the Hutt Railway; the ] Government was to- get all the land rer claimed by the operations. The local bodies, between them, were to pay for tho ' construction of tho road. .€IOO,OOO wac authorised for the work. ■ The work went y on, and nobody apparently knew what it was costing. Then the Government got authority to spend ,£3oo,ooo—they must havo spent considerably over that. The point was 'this: Tho Government undertook tho work, tho local bodies were never consulted about the specifications, and when tho end came, they were presented t with a bill for .£IOO,OOO. The Government j now talked of a commission to apportion s the amount amongst the local bodies con- | corned. Tho question they had to ask 0 themselves was. How much of the original 0 ,£IOO,OOO should havo been put upon the road itself? Certainly, not moro than j or .£30,00 should bo tho limit of tl tho liability imposed upon tho local j bodies. "This matter should bo settled as r soon as possible," said Mr. Bunny, earnestly. "And before the next election," ■1 he added, significantly.