"LITTLE BELATED"

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 222, 13 May 1932, Page 6

"LITTLE BELATED"

SUGGESTION THAT COUNCIL SUPORT REDUCED CHARGES ACTION ALREADY TAKEN "It is quite refreshing to find that we have something in common with the Ratepayers' Association. I was beginning to think that the sole reason for their existence was to find fault with the council or to discredit it in some way," said Cr. O. H. Coleman at last evening's meeting of the Rotorua Borough Council when a letter was received from the Rotorua Ratepayers' Association asking the council's support for a letter which had been sent by the association to Mr. C. H. Clinkard, M.P., urging that the Minister in Charge should take immediate action to reduce the price for electrical energy in Rotorua. Continuing, Cr. Coleman said that he thought the association's request was a little belated. He had been through the minutes, which showed that on March 6, 1929, at his own request, a report had been prepared upon electrical charges in the borough. The report was later received and on February 2-8, 1930, the council passed a resolution asking the Tourist Department to revise the charges. A reply was received on April 10, 1930 stating that it would not be possible to reduce the charges for a period of one year at least. However, in July 1931, the council again made a request to the Department for a reduction but the request was again refused. "It seems to me rather strange that after all these actions we have taken, we should be asked to take action by the Ratepayers' Association," concluded Cr. Coleman. "I can only come to the conclusion, and I think it is the most generous one under the circumstances, that the association does not study the deliberations of the council." On Cr. Coleman's motion, it was decided to reply stating that the council would be pleased at any time to further the matter of obtaining a reduction in the charges.