GREATER WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 262, 24 July 1918, Page 6

GREATER WELLINGTON

WHAT IT ENTAILS

MAYOR VISUALIZES THE FUTURE

CITY ENGINEER'S TRIP,

Tho civic atmosphere k charged with change, i'or some Time past turee at: we uoruugus aujouiuiK Wellington have I>U6 out feelers uu cniiercnt occasions as to amuiKiiiuution witu tno city, and as cue culmination oi tne country within the boundaries of those buroujhs will make town in the tuture, in .espect'to Bomu services at least, ueiii'iident on the city, there is every reason to suppose tnat the growth time surely awaits tlieso lands must, sooner or later, bring about a central control. At the present time the Miramar Borough looks io Wellington for its tramways and tho power to drive them and lor its water supply. Karori tnso depen-Js on tho city )or its means of transit, whilst rhe city has ofcuer interests near and within tho iwrori Borough, waich ono day wilt hiivo a much speedier service over a. shorter route than, at, present. Onsloiv is restive because its transit service—thu.. railway—is ami the' inevitable extension of .he electric tramway service to jNguio aud lUiandallah will put them into close and (Cgmar touch with 'nil i,urts of the city. Onsiow iiuds, too, that it is n itiiiieuit problem to institute its own water and drain-, age services, and it has hopes in that direction from anuugauiuaoii. With piessuro insistently applied, and the Mayor of Wellington wnolly in favour •ot extending tne city's boundaries, it is small wonder that the municipal air is cLarged with the element of change. Speaking to a Dominion represoutativa yeslurday tho Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), said that having regard to the proposed, amalgamation of the Onsiow Borough and possibly other adjacent boroughs with the city/and the big responsibilities that will be/outailed upon those in authority in bruising all parts of the farspread city into harmonious relationship, it would be, in his opinion, a very good thing if Mi W. H. Morton, who is at present both city engineer and tramways manager, could take a trip abroad, an* make\ himself acquainted at first, hand, with the nsMutiiils ot a uroivine city like Wellington. Speaking quite personally, Mr. Luke said that there was not the slightest doubt in his mintt that the amalgamations would tuke place, some probably in the present year., and in view of tnat almost inevitable contingency they must regard efficiency in municipal services as very important, and a knowledge of the manner in which such services have been secured in other progressive cities should be of the greatest,yulue to the Mole community coucerned.' townplanning, and the creation of the city beautilul, had been lu peoples minds for some years now, and development work had been doue in educating tne people to better ideals in city-plaumng. Recently an important cuuforenco was hold in Adelaide or Perth, and another was to be held in Brisbaue,\next week, when some of the brightest minds in. the Commonwealth would' concentrate over what was best to be done in the development, beautifying, aud rendering; hygionically sound the dues ot Australia Legislation had lieun promulgated here and a Bill had been circulated, which had already created interest approaching enthusiasm in somu quarters of the Dominion, aud would, he hoped, a, little later result in accomplished works. Last year legislation was passed which gave the City Council cerlipm deiincd. powers in regard to the uubdivision ot land, a power which was to De exercised discreetly so that no owner could subdivide his holding in such a way as to be a disadvantage to tho rest of tho community in tho vicinity. Those powers were going to be helpful to the city and to those lands likely to be absorbed by tho city, as it should be their prido aiid ambition that the \ery best be mado of our natnral advantages. On thoso grounds, too, he was advocating that tho City Engineer should visit the most progressive cities and towns in tho United: Kingdom and America. Just as it was good for a company to send its manager abroad every now and then 1.0 gain new ideas, so, ho believed, it was economic enterprise for a city to send its engineer away to those places that wore moving forward perhaps more rapidly than we were. Mr. Morton was. .not only city engineer, but he wus the head of the Wellington tramways and electric lighting undertakhiK&. both of which were capable of great development. The citizens had spent & great deal of money on the erection and equipment of the- power stations. It was not necessary at this etf.ge to go into the history of the stations i.n detail, but they hud not provided as adequately as desired for the astonishing growth ot' the city during recent years. The hydroelectric system had come forward as a necessary means of providing power services, and if there were no other argument in favour -of power bo developed than tho conservation of coal, for other services (notably coal for steamships and other mobile services), that would justity the prosecutioii3J)f the beet means.available to br.ng about such a power supply. There were, however, the difficulties of transport and cost of handling , the coal which had to be considered, and which wore practically eliminated in tho caso of a hydro-electric scheme. K As alternatives there were turbino engines, somo up to 30,000 horse-power, capable of generating electricity at a ligure closely approximating tho cost of tho hvdro-eloctrio current, but on the whole the data availablo favoured hydro-electric generation whjre the conditions are reasonably favourable. In this respect it would bo very helpful if the tramway manager could visit some of Hie American cities, see the two systems working side by side, and inquire carefully into the system oi primary and sub-power stations and stand-by plants. It would also lie necessary for him to make closo examination of the latest methods of road-construc-tion in view of tho work ahead, antl, having in mind the complete ohange which had taken place in the nature of our traffic, through tho coming of tho 6\vift-inov;ng heavy-weight inotor-lorrics and cars. Though a great deal of knowledge could be obtained ivoin text-books, a man with such fine natural gifte as tho city engineer could, Mr. Luke felt sure, pin much from personal observation. Asked as to when tho city engineer would be likely to leave New Zealand, tho Mftyor sa.d that tho matter would have to be considered by tho council. Personally, ho favoured his getting away as soon as possible, as he conceived that transport arrangements were as good now as they wess likely to b« for eotne- time to come.