“Don’t Join, Tamaki”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 53, 25 May 1927, Page 13

“Don’t Join, Tamaki”

GREATER AUCKLAND PLAN

ij)VICE FROM BOROUGH MAYORS

Re.idents of Tamaki Road Disui,l we re advised last night by the *'yo7s of Mount Eden and Newmarket not to join the Greater Auckland scheme.

The meeting was presided over by ... j W. Carr. -rentral government is not in the Interests of Auckland.” said Mr. -H. Potter, mayor ol Mount Eden. inSl government creates and keeps re a strong public sentiment and .Interest of residents in the affairs . their district. The interests of n and country are served by the 1 rd system, and in Auckland there m 40 local bodies to aid. efficiently. development of the city. One big Administrative body allows the manto fall into the hands of of,CThe speaker pointed out that the gar hour. Hospital. Education, Main uihways and Power Boards were in vtotence and that it was proposed , have water, town-planning and Anuispert boards. Tamaki was decidT, rural, having a population of "hout 2,000, while two-thirds of its ,lD rr’ l * farm land. Canberra, the ;I vT Australian Federal capital, was ”i*ned With an area of 12 square mdes which appeared to be regarded “ , h ’ e maximum economic area of a dty Auckland city was already 13 luare miles in extent and Tamaki’s acres, or nearly nine square miles would, if added, make far too unwieldy a city area. Mr. Potter cited the report of the Royal Commission . 1924 on the government of London, Irhich ’said that after the population „f a civic authority reached 90,000 the administrative cost per capita increased progressively. “FLOURISHING NEWMARKET” The Borough of Newmarket has refused to join the city, even in times „f stress and it is now flourishing," -aid the Mayor, Mr. E. Donaldson. Xewmarket was now the envy of districts like Parnell, which he was sure would secede from the metropolitan irea if given the chance. Sydney, with 55 local bodies, had a population of 103.000 in the metropolitan and 1,039,390 in its total area. Melbourne, with 28 local bodies, had 105 000 in the metropolitan and over 700 000 in the total area—ratios 0 : ’ metropolitan to total population of one-tenth and oneseventh respectively. Yet Auckland’s metropolitan population was one-half of its total. Since 1902 in Sydney, and 1925 in Melbourne, there bad been no further amalgamations. Mr. J. H. Hannan said that when Remuera was a road board be paid £7 Ha in general, and £ 1 2s 6d a year in water rates, as compared with £3l 8s id and £6 0s 7d now that the suburb was amalgamated with the city. CONTRARY ARGUMENT

Mrs. Ruby IVutson said Tamaki’s most urgent need was finance—a need which could be met by amalgamation with the city. Newmarket had benellted from Auckland City's prosperity rather than from its refusal to join the city. Mr. Hannan: The City Council has pawned all but the water and the air. Really, they have pawned the water, and when they treat the electric light similarly the air will have been pawned also. Mrs. Watson: It is better to have something to pawn than to go bankrupt Mr. A. E. Murray: We are not bankrupt. This is a district of grandeur, with sweetness and health and a future. The city wants us to bolster up its weak position.

“POPULAR SUBURB”

DECREASE IN RATES WHY TAMAKI SHOULD JOIN Criticism of the arguments against the linking up of Tamaki with the city was made by Mr. M. G. McArthur, ex-chairman of the Tamaki Road Board, to-day. Explaining the position he said that a meeting of 400 residents at St. Hellers in October last passed a resolution in favour of the amalgamation, there being only one dissentient. A petition was circulated in the district aud 300 signed it and lodged it with the old Road Board. The date of the poll demanded by the petition *ould probably be fixed by the Road Board at its meeting on Thursday. “There is a strong feeling in the district that it should be joined up ®ith the city,” said Mr. McArthur. Orakei and Tamaki will combine to make a popular suburb when the waterfront railway and road are complete. There is practically no wateriront left in Auckland now except °urs. It hardly would be fair to expect the people in the district to bear |he expense of reserving the areas; it 13 a job for the city to undertake as a whole. BURDEW OF EXPENSE ‘The city valuer and I picked out specimen sections in the area so that we could get a comparison of the rat■hg basis and I am quite satisfied that he rates in the drainage area of the 'strict would be less if we joined he city than they are now. We had 0 80 to the very big expense of a rainage scheme, and this burden uuld then be more easily borne. In e farming area the rates would be Practically the same as far as we can judge. The city water rate would be 3 saper than the present one, and 1 aonot see how the other rates would 66 dearer.

At present we are not in a posion to go in for concrete roads; the ® miles of the main road had to be t down in cheaper material. The in * ou *d find it cheaper to lay roads vn rinaU< ’ n t ma terial. We have to mn i,* n a very much more hand-to-totr system than the city. The t “'banning argument is an importo h ° ne ' 11 " be much better tj. ave one authority to scheme out sav , ure °f the whole of the city, 8e ’ lor year s. than to allow each ate body to have a hand in it." ARGUMENTS ATTACKED lisv!* 1^ 1115 an argument used by the said- Mount Eden, Mr. McArthur 0 f ’ "° say that the maximum area is i n C ty is lim ited to 12 square miles like rf rect - There are manv cities, tnanv mu SO T‘ in which the area is area 68 lar Ser. New York has an local k jT er “3® square miles and five control it. 0[ T ° lug like two-thirds of the area large is farm land now. All the aQ d oln StateS ilave now been divided the raii y Bmall farm s are left. When the are" ay - * S com l > l e tad in 12 months that Tam 11 be suburban - The idea i 3 being asked to bolster