THEIR STEWARDSHIP

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 520, 2 May 1933, Page 5

THEIR STEWARDSHIP

.councillors' work

t review by mayor outlines eolicy and labours op outgoing council pljblic address last evening A general review of the work carried out hy the'council durjng the past two years, was given in St. John's Plall last eviening hy the Mayor (Mr. T. Jackson) who outlined at length the policy pursued hy the outgoing- council. The chair was taken by the deputy Mayor, Mr. Geo. Urquhart, who paid a tribute to the work which the Mayor had done durang the past term. . ..

The: mayor, wha wa3 greeted with , applause, thanked the ratepayers for re-electing him to the mayoralty un- i opposed. He appreciated this mark of confidence but regretted that some of the most valued members of the council had not, for private reasoris, sought re-election. They were men who had given of their best for the past two years and men whom the ratepayers could ill afford to lose. Carrying Out Formier Policy During the past two years, said the mayor, the council had been carrying out the policy formulated during the previous council's term of office as far ■a,3 th'e times permitted. Whilst it had been impossihle to carry all proposals to finality, most h'ad he-en completed or were on the way to completion. Number of Meetings To give an idea of the work done hy couneillors, he told them that 40 full council meetings had heen held, and meetings of the committees as follows: Finance committee 24, works committee 34, general committee 42, publicity land amusement committee 42, drainage committee 20, parks and reserves committee 14, band committee 9/ a total of 225 meetings in two years to say nothing of the great amount of time that couneillors had given apart from meetings. Th'ey would see that the burden of ofiiee was no light one. He had himself attended 219 meetings out of the 225, which enabled hiin. to keep in touch with the affair3 of the borough'. Secondary Roads Sealing Some of the work done had heen commenced four years aigo such as surfacing certain secondary streets. The reason why all the original proposals had not heen fully carried out, such.as the sealing of the main outlets to the town, was that when the proposals were submitted they were hased upon the assumption that no dncrease in rates would be necessa.ry. The loans and sinking funds had heen based on a 20 year basis hut the Local Government Loans' Board insisted upon a 10 year basis — a ridiculous idea — and the amount of sinking fund was thus rendered so high th'at the council did not deem it wise to carry out the proposals. The board had .agreed to a 15 year term for secondary road3 and acting on this the council had gone on with th'e work, and the council had acted wisely for he shuddered to think what the cost of maintenance would have heen had they not heen sealed. Had the same terms been available for the main outlets it would pay to have them done. HighwaYs Board Short Sighted An attempt had heen made to seal : the main roads out of revenue hut the Main Highways Board had refused to provide subsidies for sealing thoug-h they would provide for maintenance — a -short sighted policy which cost more in the long run. Unemployment Work The inauguration of the No. 5 Scheme threw the responsibility of finding work on the local bodies and it had been no easy thing to find suitable "work. All expenses except wages had to be borne by the local authority as well as any extra cost necessitated hy the relief work. The council had determined to employ the relief worlcers in work which would benefit the town of Rotorua. One such work was th'e formation of secondary streets in residential areas which could not have heen done for years in ordinary circumstances which had heen of enormous benefit to the town. A eomprehensive scheme had been followed to benefit the areas served and to lessen the maintenance costs. After the carriage way had heen determined the balance of the road was laid out in grass plots and footpaths which would in time prove of great value to the town. In all iabout five miles of streets had been treated in this way and would become ornaments to- the town. It h'ad been done at very small costs to the borough. These were only part of the whole -scheme which when completed would

tu n all the reserves into parks linked hy pathways providing a chain of beauty spots. Kuirau Reserve

'The mayor instanced the work which had heen done on the Kuirau Reserve and compared it with the state of the land two years ago. When it was completed Rotorua would have a recreational reserve unequalled in th'e Southern Hemispher-e with sports iground3 and thermal wonders. The whole cost to the borough of the Kuirau reserve wa,s about £170 which included the cost of the plantation of native trees. Progress on the sports area was slow owing to th'e fact that that area was f ormerly a swamp and had to be drained. It was found that the ordinary drainage and cultivation

were unsuitahle owing- to the lmpregnation of the land with chemical salts from higher areas. Thisl necessitated an unusual drainage scheme and it would not he long before it was available for its original purpose. Whaka Reserve Alluding to the laying out of the area overlooking the Geyser Valley ®.t the south end of Fenton Street the mayor spolce of the opposition to dt and its present -snccess. It was work of tremendous value to the town from an ' aesthetic point of view and preceded the laying out of Fenton Street in a similar manner to' th'e lalce. There was no work which would he of -such value to Rotorua tand he hoped that subsequent councils would reahse the value of making Rotorua an nnparalleled show place and aesthetic wonder. Lake Front Reclamation - The mayor dedlt also Vrith th'e cutting down of Rangiuru Street to its

permanent level and the reclamation work with the spoil on the lake front which wa3 an integral part of the general beautifying scheme. He also d-ealt with th'e laying of conerete footpaths in the inner area mentioning that it had heen found possible to expend iall the money on New Zealand material and put on unemployed iahour. The cost was very little higher than asphalt and tbei whole of the material was produced in New Zealand. Further the concrete footpaths had a longer life. Whaka Sewerage D ealing with the Whaka sewerage scheme the speaker dwelt upon the difficulties experienced in preventing the outbreak of an epidemie. Elahorate precautions involving large expense had to be taken eaeh summer and the Health Department was continually urging the council to- do the work. Finally a very .suhstantial iamount was promised by the Native Department toward the reticulation of the pa. Th'e Health Department then drew attention to the area outside the pa and the council went fully into .the matter and decided to go ahead by means of a speeial rating area. The work was going on in a very satisfactory manner despite the l difficulties. Had not the Native De1 partment found -its share and the Un- ' -employment Board found wages it 1 would have been many years before ! any council would have had the temi erity to bring down proposals to the ratepayers. Despite the times Rotorua j wa3 very fortunate in being able to I get such' works forward and was reaping the benefit. He was glad to he able to vindicate his suggestion that the men on that work be paid a higher rate of pay. The work was going forward more than favourably in comparison with any contract sewerage job. Borough. Finance Speaking of borough' finance the mayor told his aiudience that the council had adopted the amortization system in place of the old sinking fund method for new loans. A3 far as earlier loans were concerned the reduction in interest rates would amount to £822 a year. Under normal conditions this wonld be nsed in reducing rates " hut he s-aw very little prospect of a reduction in rates in the coming year th'ough they would receive som-e indirect benefit through a lower price of meat owing to the reduction in abattoir charges. However the los3 of hath fees, some £1300 a year more than counterhalanced the reduction in interest. The fact was >a, large sum must he found for relief work and this made it almost impossihle to promise a reduction in rates. In 1929 the bank overdraft was £4622 lld and outstanding rates were £3267 3s 6d. There wa3 a debit of £442 ls 9d on 31/3/29. To-day the position was not so good as two years tago owing! to the difficult financial times and the lower percentage of rates collected. Despite the times it was better than 1929. The overdraft was £4122 14s 3 d plus some outstanding loans about £780, outstanding rates were £5348 13s 4d, about £3000 being last year's rates. The total cash liahilities were £4902 14s 3 d but in addition to the rates outstanding there was £3174 6s 3d advanced on account of loans so that the cash assets were (when the loans were repiaiid) £8022 19s 7d leaving a credit of £3620 5s 4d compared with £422 ls 9d dehit in 1929. He thought that they would agree that the - council had done its job. D ealing with rates struck the mayor pointed out that a ten per cent. reduction had heen made in the last two years compared with those' in vogue when the- present council took office. Tribute To Couneillors In conclusion Mr. Jackson paid a tribute to the couneillors who had one and all pulled their weight dn the team, giving good, faithful and un--selfish service. If the ratepayers pick-

ed -as good a team the ratepayers would have nothing to worry iabout. Other Couneillors Speak Cr. O. H. Coleman dwelt briefly with his policy which included the Ohinemutu sewerage scheme. The town would grow and . he one of greatest -of the inland towns and must have the facilities. A speeial rating area would he necessary and the scheme would he no added burden to the ratepayers. He would -support the various carnivals and sports bodies to hold meetings in the town and any measure to bring tourists to the town. He would strenuously oppose any increase in the rates, and would support the mayor.

Cr. E. C. Johnston eongratulated the mayor on his re-election which was the best thing for Rotorua. He did not believe in political parties in municipal life for a eouncillor should hiild all hi-s thoughts to- Rotorua. The electors should: wake up to the fact that an elem-ent desired to hlock-vote their own men in. He urged electors to go to the poll. Anything he could do to advance Rotorua he would do for it was an asset second to none. He believed in sealing roads and paths out of -revenue. He believed that the council- should aim at acquiring the control of the whole town at a price not what the Government had paid to put schemes in- — hut at present day values. Cf. W. H. Wackrow (Government nominee) paid a tribute to the work of the miayof. He urged residents to take -more interest in the lake -Since it wa3 only a question of time when the fishing area would he restricted. He urged* a move for Government assistance "oi* the fishin'g would deter-

iorate very seriously. The lake had receded as much as 12 chains in some places. Mi\ J. Banks a candidate for the council said that he- had taken a keen interest in public affairs. H>e was not going to bring down a policy until he had facts to go on. If elected he would give a considered opinion. oh any question which came before th'e council. He traversed the history of the King George Y. Hospital. *

Mr. L. Ewert said that he would study the best dnterests of the town as a ratepayer and a citizen. After hearing the mayor's prdgramme h'e realised that there was a lot to do and a3 iai colt he was anxious to put his shoulder to the wheel and help. Mr. Geo. Freneh said th'at his prineipal reason for offering his services was his unbounded faith in the future of Rotorua. He would do his utmost to further the town. Mr. F. Goodson said that he did not wish to speak a3 .h'e- had a bad throat. Cr. W. Galbraith thanked the electors for putting him on the council for the past 10 years and wished the mayor and council prosp erity.' •Mr. Geo. Urquhart endorsed the remarks of Cr. Galbraith' and paid a glowing tribute to the work -of the mayor. The figures igaven by the mayor should convince ariyone. He urged the electors to support the retiring couneillors who were seeking re-election and to exercise duei judg- : ment in the recording of their votes.