AMALGAMATION SCHEME
ONSLOW'S POSITION MEETING AT KHANDALLAH A well-attended public meeting was held in the Khandallah Town Hall on Tuesday to ciuestion cf fimiugaumtion of the Onsloiv borough with Wellington. The Mayor of Onslow, Mr. J. M. Dale, presided. . In opening, Mr. Dale said that after a considerable amount of negotiating with the Wellington City Council they were now able to offer the people of Onsloiv the*freedom of Wellington city, and on terms which no reasonable man could cavil at. Wellington city niusti expand. It needed au attractive residential area, away from the business centre, but with rapid transit and conveniences, ine city could supply the access and the conveniences, while the Onslow borough could supply the beauty, oppn spaces, and Councillor Hodgson 6iid that he was in unison with the amalgamation proposal. At first he was opposed to it, but lie had since got more Jata and now favoured it. Hβ thought at first that the rates ivould be increased, but found that would not be so. Onslow borough had reached a state of stagnation, and tbe only remedy was amalgamation, lho question of access was one of the most important to this part of the borough. At the present time Khandallah was shut off. Councillor Hobbs said that when 'ho was elected to the Qnelow Borough Council nearly two years fgo he pledged his word that he would support the amalgamation of Onslow borough with Wellington city. He was convinced that an assured water supply and an efficient drainage system oould only be obtained for this district by amalgamation with the city. The majority of the people present had never had a .Irniuage proposal placed before them because the Inst ami only drainage proposal put to the ratepayers was in 1909 when a number ot them were not living in the borough. It must be remembered that the last water supply proposal did not mention •drainage. In 1009 it was proposed to provide a drainage eystem for sewerage only for a small portion of Kliandallali and Ngaio at a cost of .£11,300. This system, which did not include ordinary house drainage, did not extend to the eastern side of the railway line nt Khandallnh nor to the western side of the railway line ,at Ngaio, and -served only 110 houses in all.. JSeadless to say, this proposal was rejected, and it was so obviously inefficient that it wns never again brought forward. , Now the last water scheme was supposed to supply 100 houses at a capital cost of .£25,000. To drain 400 houses on the basis of the 1909 proposal would cost ,£45,000, or a total of .£70,000. To pay interest, and sinking fund charges on this amount it would take a rate of *i«i- m the pound on the unimproved value. On a property of an unimproved vnlue of jEIOO the annual rate would be £\ 17s. Gd. ' This would be for a limited supply of water by meter, and people had to •pay whether they had the service con'nec'ted or not.' "Now let us see what the cost would be by amalgamation with the city of Wellington. Let us take Wadestown, and all the outlying districts of the city are on exactly the.same basis. The wator rate paid is n P er cent." on the annual value, which is calculated at 6 per cent, on the' capital value. On a property of .£IOO unimproved, .£6OO capital, ancl SX annual value the water rato would be 19s. 10d. per annum, and it must be remembered that this rate is not payable until the water is connected up with the property. The drainago rate in the same district is calculated at MO-200d. on the unimproved vnlue. On the same property ns .previously mentioned the annual rato paid is ss. lOil That means that tho total rates payable for both water and drainngo on tho' values given amount: to only £1 ss. Sd. per annum, a saving of 11s. 10d. per annum or about 33 per cent. These rates includo interest and sinking fund charges'on tho capital cost of the works, and alto in.cludo.the cost of pumping. This ia for 'an unlimited supply of water for domestic purposes as against a limited local supply." < Briefly, tho position was: On the one hand they had been a borough for 29 years, and during that time had made no progress and obtained no conveniences excepting electric light, which th#e. wore oompeiled to purchase from the Wellington City Couucil. On the other hand, if they amalgamated they had the prospect of getting necessary conveniences within a reasonable time, at a reasonable cost, a.ml an effioient service. In fnct, they had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Councillor A. E. JJudd referred to the fact that As far back as 1!)14 ho had advocated amalgamation' of the Onslow borough with Wellington city, and had worked in that direction ever since. The fact that the poll to give effect to this project was to bo taken on February 5 was sufficient vindication of thoso councillors who two years ago had been charged with, insincerity in advocating amalgamation. Regarding valuations, Councillor 'Budd quoted figures to show that revaluations did not greatly increase taxation. Tho unimproved valuation in 1907, previous to amalgamation, was .£127,312, and to-day', with all its advantages, is only 4!185,342. On the other hand, the capital value had increased from ,£200,053 to .£367,733, v.hich showed the vety substantial progress that had been brought about through amalgamation with Wellington. Cpeaking on water and drainage, he said that Onslow had never been able to place a satisfactory scheme before the ■ ratepayers, and Hie only place which could give the district those , benefits was the city. Councillor Build went on to show that lack of proper access had retarded the district, and that this was a matter in which tho city was also interested, and could assist materially in providing better access to all parts of Onslow. Referring to, general improvements that could come to Onslow through amalgamation he quoted figures to show that in all outlying districts which had amalgamated the city had spent considerably moro money 'than had been collected 'in rales from those districts. The great saving in administration expenses alone would enable the city engineer to spend <r least 70 per cent, more than at'present on street improvements, such as footpaths, channelling, etc. Speaking of other matters concernirig amalgamation, Councillor Hudd pointed out that whilst Onslow had the email debt of .£17,308, its osests were only M73i, while the city with its debt of .£1,901,552 had assets amounting to .£3,637,241, it was therefore quite clear that partnership with the city ie a good business proposition for Onslow. Onslow had stagnated for twenty-nine years, and he thought the borough would find the city treat it.with fairness and generosity.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 107, 30 January 1919, Page 3
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1,135AMALGAMATION SCHEME Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 107, 30 January 1919, Page 3
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