OUR MUNICIPALITIES

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1500, 24 July 1912, Page 6

OUR MUNICIPALITIES

CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES. THE AGENDA PAPER. • Tho order paper for the conference of delegates to the New Zealand Municipal Conference, which ojjens at the Town Hall on Monday next, is a very lengthy one, ami points to a session of hard work. Among the various remits from tho affiliated bodies, it is noticed Unit I'al-liioi-iton North desires to add tho following- sub-section to Section 2119 of Tho Municipal Corporations Act, 11)08:—(.1) Tho council may, out of its general funds, pay to a band or bauds a sum not exceeding in all .£IOO per annum for supplying music in,any of tlio pleasure grounds, gardens, libraries, museums, music halls, ur gymnasiums, provided for the purpose of enjoyment or recreation of tho public." (Tlio Audit Office refuses to pass such payments.) The same borough suggests that tho honorarium paid to tho Mayor of a borough should be exempt from tho income tax on the ground that it is chiefly used for purposes outsido personal requirements.

In tho opiirlm of tho Eastbourne Borough Council (Wellington), tho Public Health Act,l9oß, should be amended to provide that "no second-hand timber whatsoever shall be removed from ono district lo another unless such timber shall have been fir.st inspected and approved by a duly appointed officer of tlio local bodv governing tho district into which it is proposed to bring such second-hand timber, and that no second-hand timber whatsoever shall bo used for building purposes in any district unless the samo shall have been first inspected and approved by a duly appointed officer of the local body governing t-he district wherein such timber is proposed to bo so used." "That a respectful protest be lodged against tho practice recently introduced by the Department of Lands of charging fees oil all plans required by law to be submitted to the Chief Surveyor for approval, although there is no statutory authority to mako such charges," is a i'rom tho Wellington Citv Council. J ho Government say that they will not lraue proclamations or warrants until such charges b'avo boon paid. Attention will also bo drawn bv tho I Wellington City Council's delegato to tho fact that although Section 117 of tho Public Works Act, 1908, provides for tlio dedication on -sub-division of lands, of strips of such land sufficient to widen tho streets to an extent that ,13 feet will bo provided between the middle line of tho streets and tho frontage of tho subdivided land, these provisions have been in force 12 years, they have not affected any street-widening in Wellington, and should therefore be repealed. Tho Onehunga Borough Council will move:—"That tho necessary steps be taken to amend the law in respect of tho pulling down of condemned buildings bv throwing the onus of doing same on to the Public Health Department." (Under the present system the health officer condemns a building, and tho local body has to go to all the trouble and expense, often entailing heavy legal, fees, of carrying out his. wishes.) . Private', streets and' ways is the subject of a remit from the Wellington City Council: '.'That, as■ the legislation as to the maintenance and construction of private streets and private ways is unsatisfactory, legislation should bo passed authorising councils to deal with theso mat-ters-on the lines of the Local Government Act, 1903, of Victoria." Note— "his Act gives councils power to construct theso ways after giving notice to parties interested of its intention, and depositing specifications for inspection for a fixed period, and hearing objections to tho scheme. Our statute does not enablo us to charge nil parties benefited. Tlio \ ictoria Act does. y

• Hoardings mul advertisements will be the subject of motions by the Auckland, Wellington, and Lyttelton delegates, in tho following terms:—(a) "Thai as tho existing legislation, relating to hoarding? and tl'.o public display ivithiu new of passengers on highways of advertisements is unsatisfactory, and. fails to deal effectively with existing hoardings, fresh legislation bo enacted giving the .council full power to license and otherwise control all hoardings existing ot future, and generally to control under, license or otherwife the exhibition of advertisements 011 hoardings, walls, places and buildings visible from streets" (Wellington and Auckland); (b) '"that local authorities bo empowered to compel the removal of useless and unsightly fences, buildings, hoardings, etc." (Lyttelton). The Wellington City Council is of oninion, and its representative will move* accordingly: "That the Crown's exemption from rates should be abolished."