WOOING THE CITY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3181, 4 September 1917, Page 8

WOOING THE CITY

AN ONSLOW PROPOSAL DESIRES AMALGAMATION JWITH WELLINGTON Tho Borough of Onslow is a tract'of country composed in the main of breezy uplands, which form the foothills of the big western range beyond, and as the crow Hies is within three miles or so of the centre of Wellington. Yesterday a deputation consisting of tho Mayor, of Onslow (Mr. J. M. Dale) and Councillors Appleton, Budd, and Topp waited on the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. I'. Luke) for the purpose of mooting tho matter of amalgamation with the city. Mr. Dale said that the amalgamation woitld mean for the l>orou.gh tho of a great deal of administrative expense, and the essential services would lie better provided by incorporation with tho city than by continuance on borough lines. Onslow Borough compared with Wellington its follows: —Population, .20(10 (Wellington 67,230); area, 2000 acres (95(15): uuiraprov. Ed value, cE2.iß.fi37 (,£11,205,411); capita value, over ,£500,000 (over .£20,000,000); total loans, <£IG,-t(iß (JL'2,280,250); sinking funds, ■E1874. (,£327,202); total general rates on unimproved value, approximately 23(1. (2 l-3d.). The capital value in Wellington "was. about - ( .'3OO per head, and in Onslow; about ,£250. while rates, as a ■whole showed very little difference.. Onslow required the essential services— ■water, drainage, and trains—and could obtain them on the most economical basis by joint action with Wellington. To the deputation Mr. Luke suggested that'it should put its proposals forward in definite form for submission to the City Council, so that the council would be in the position to estimate what the requirements were. He was inclined, personally, to the general view that the sooner the ndiacent areas could be linked up with the city the better it would be for all concerned. That would enable drainage, water,. lighting, and tramway facilities to -be available on a better basis -than couild bs done by means of small undertakings .entailing: heavy charges. There was no doubt that the water supply could become incorporated with the'city supply from Wainm and Orongorongo. 1 It was a question for the City Engineer to --ay whether the watershed bought bv the Onslow "Borough could be used by the construction- of a stor- ( age dam at the foot of tho ravine to_.be supplied from the city reservoirs. Mr. Morton would have'to advise the council whether water conservation in that area was economically advisable, or whether it would lie.worth while to use.tho land as a watershed in- the ordinary Tho Mavor said lie' was- convinced that thromrh-Wadestown and Ngaio to Khand all all was the direction that should be taken bv a tramway; Mr.-Dale (submitted n plan of a proposed road from Kaiwarra to Khani atlah. with a maximum grade of l m M-. The Mayor said tho plan should 1» submitted to 'the City Council in connection with the amalgamation 'proposals. Whilst he-was sympathetic-with the Onslow proposals, lie had: to' recognise that ■war conditions would prevent-them-doing what they would be "We to limner ordinary circumstances. To his miml not only Onslow, but. also Miramar itnd Karori, should be-a part of Greater, Wellington. From the viewpoint of municipal policy the .proposition was one that should appeal to all who were desirous of extendthe benefits'of c't.y conditions by way of nnialciiination. To his mind, the two arguments in favour , of ibis vrere—(l» Ttio termination 'o'f the costly system o. ndmipistrntiop entailed' in the, upl'eep it small municipalities, which exiiense could be reduced -by" central, authority control- and 'W the provision fo» the smaller locality of -sential service by linking th»m up vmHi t mse. v a readv establ'shcl in the Inree borough.,, Ourte * lot-ef costlv wo-ks bad. been carried out in lwouijhs adjacent to cities, »n<J nfler n time, when amalgamation had come abo'it. ■ those works "■bad b»"wne obsolete and the capital cost of .them had been to a great, extent, lost.