MERGER OPPOSED

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 14, 9 October 1937, Page 6

MERGER OPPOSED

-Press Agaociation.)

Local-Body Control MAKARA COUNTY OPINION

(Br Telegrapb-

WELLINGTON Last Night. Opposition to the proposed amalgamation of local bodies was expressed at to-day's meeting of the Makara County Council. Suggestions submitted by the chairman, Mr F. Windley, were debated and supported unanimously. He said that local government should be responsible for all road work, including main highways, with a fair distribution from motor taxation plus local rates. The present local boundaries should remain unless obvious advantages were apparent by amalgamation. The Tesponsibilitiee of counties were many times increaaed with the increased traffie on all roads; hence, the larger the county the more unwieldy and less satisfactory the. service from the ratepayers' point of view. State control, he said, was devoid of the same responsibility as ' local-body control. County administration wa3 always under the scrutiny of the Tatepayers, who found part of tbe money.' He did not 'support deratin^ and he oppoeed amalgamation. He coiisidered that the franchise should remain the same, Local indebtedness was for tfie most part the result of the will of the ratepayers. Th6v could not support amalgamation because it would almost disfranchise the ratepayer regulting in sparsely-populated portio'us of the larger counties receiving crumbs of expenditure. They would be domihated by closely-settled localities Expenditure. would not be under the.present rigid control. A larger county would never.give as good service. The rktepayer, generally speaking, would not _ even know where his county boundary began or endec1 It would kill all interest in lofcal government control.