MIRAMAR AND CITY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 286, 27 August 1920, Page 7

MIRAMAR AND CITY

THE AMALGAMATION QUESTION. A public meeting, which was well attended; wns held in the Mirnmar Town Halt on 'Wednesday ni?ht to further the movement for the amal"iniatlon of the borouuh with the city. Mr. John Brodie, an ox-Mayor of Miramar, presided. ■Mr. A. W. Parton in favour of amalgamation. He nointfd out hnw the borouirh would benefit by joining tho city in low admini'i.ration Muenscs, imnrnved tramway facilities, better roads, and foreshore improvements. He emphasised that Miramar must of necessity woeress better under the Greater Wellington scheme than under the present narochiat control. He also pointed out that the boroujrh would have tho benefit of tho better facillHes. offered by the city in administration affaiTS. The question of the so-called unconditional surrender when amalgamating was also referred to. ' Mr. Parton contended that the torm "unrTviditional surrender" was a misnomer, as evidenced by Onslow arid Karori. which were granted Kood conditions, such as the retention of the 40ft. frontage for dwellings.. Karori was also granted tho dooHiif of tho tramway loans, which meant that the borough was not now debited with any loss on Its trams, as it was before amalgamation, and as Miramar was at present. Mr. Parton urged.his audience to look ten, fifteen, or even twenty years ahead, and to think what Miramar borough could do with its limitations in comparison to what tho city could do for it. He nointed out the advantaees gained by Onslow' in the purchase by the city of largo open spaces, out of revjnuo. for recreation purposes, Durln» the first year Onslow joined the city the council collected less rates, and yet was able to purchase, approximately; 108 acres at Khandallah for a garden suburb, ib\ acres in the heart'of the district for. recreation purposes, and threequarters of an acre at Ngaio for a rest park; ako 33 acres of the Neaio Gorge for scenic purposes. AH thU was out of revenue, and not at the expense of Onslow. What could not the city do for Miramar with the open spaces available?. A hearty vote of thanks and confidence in Mr. Parton was passed unanimously, also a vote of thanks to the chairman for presiding. •' ■ Another meeting is to be held at Seatoun this evening. A meeting is to be held in tho Miramar Town Hal! this evening at 8 o'clock when the Mayor will address electors open the proposed amalgamation. "NOTHINC TO CAIN," PUBLIC MEETING 'AT SEATOTJN. There was a large attendance at„ the meeting addressed at Seatoun last night in opposition to tho proposal by the Mayor of Miramar, Mr. C. M. Stone. At the outset, the Mayor stated that, tho question'had been forced on the present council against their better judgment, and contrary to the unanimous vote of electors taken. on the matter when it was pnt Jbefore them at a publio meeting in the power station, on October 29 last. Since thpn nothing had. laken place to causa the ratepayers' representatives to ohange their opinion. , Certainly Karori ■Jiad since that meeting' amalgamated:with the city, but Karori's assets and Miramar's asßets differed materially. Incidentally the Oity Council had decided to take over. the Karori tramway loans. Dealing with the (question of overhoad charges, ho pointed out that the percentage of cost as a charge of the revenue in the case of the Borough Council was 11.8 per cent., as against 13,6 per cent, in the case of the Oity Council. In the ovent of amalgamation it was obvious that the present staff maintained by the borough would'be still employed by the city, and quite likely exclusively engaged on Miramar work, but whereas at present one man might do several classes of work, It was the city's practice to havo a small array of officials each with the duty of seeing that a particular by-law was obeyed. Referring to the question of tramways, the Mayor pointed out that under amalgamation the fixing of fares and time-tables would be left to a body wpon which Miramar would. be fortunate if it were represented by one member out of sixteen. The borough carried residents an average of 135 chains for ..lid., as against an average nf 92 chains in the city, 66 chains in Wades- 1 town, and 64 chains in Karori. Under amalgamation the residents would get tho benefit of a through concession fare, but not 'at any cheaper rate than was at present in force. Tho borough had nothing to gain as regards the water, as there was already a permanent supply at a fixed' price. As to clectrio light, residents now obtained current at the same scale of charges' as residents of the city, but they did not have to pay tho rate to cover tho interest on the .capital employed in buying out the original syndicate. ■' Touching the remainder of Miramar's public services, ho maintained most strongly that the supervision of works in progress in the borough was more satisfactorily performed by a Mayor, council, and staff, all resident in tho district, instead of being managed by a staff some fivo miles away. Coming to finance, tho Mayor quoted figures to show that the highest rate of interest paid'fcy the'city was 6° per cent., and the council 4 per cent., while in respect to . Miramar the figures were 6} per cent, and 31 per cent, respectively. No difficulty had ever been experienced in floating a borough loan, owing partly to its large balance of assets over liabilities, and secondly to the healthy condition of the sinking funds. Mr. Stone continued that borough residents at pre«ent enoyed the various city public utilities and conveniences, tho upkeep of whioh was borne by the city. The publio'debt of the. borough waß only £132,998 ss. 4d., and within the next 18 years all the loans, except one of £4500, would have been repaid Witlf" regard to rateß, he stated that ' under amalgamation a property with a capita] valuo of £900 would have to pay an increase of £1 2s, 6d. on tho present rates, and in respect of a property of a capital value of £1400 the increase would be £3 3s. 9d., or fifty per cent. There would be a decrease of 14 per cent, on vacant unimproved land. He therefore could not see that the borough stood to gain anything by amalgamation. Amalgamation might bo all light on proper terms. The present terms, however, were tantamount, to unconditional surrender. At the conclusion of hl3 address Mr. Stone answered a number of questions, and was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. At the close of the Mayer's speech Coun cillors E. Collio and Barnett also [poltc in opposition to the proposed amalgamation, and questions were answered beyeral of' those present announced that the manner in which tho Mayor had put the facts before them convinced them that amalgamation would not be in the best interests of the borough. Oue ratepayer jocularly described the meeting as a gathering of ipenitcnts. Councillor Collio moved that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded the Mayor for the able manner in which he had stated the case against amalgamation. This wan seconded by Mr. Owen, and carried by acclamation. A small committee was formed to work against amalgamation.