Tamaki Considers

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 65, 8 June 1927, Page 11

Tamaki Considers

ADDRESS ON AMALGAMATION ADVANTAGES TO BE OBTAINED A meeting attended by about 50 ratepayers of the Tamaki Road Board was addressed last evening by Mr. vV. J. Moldsworth, chairman of the Auckland Electric Power Board, on the advantages Tamaki would derive from amalgamating with Auckland City. Mr. Holdsworth claimed an extensive experience on the subject. The Drainage Board and the Electric Power Board were examples of the benefits to be gained from amalgamation, and the lessons could be equally applied to local bodies. Mr. Holdsworth said that Mr. E. H. Potter, Mayor Of Mount Eden, and Mr. S. Donaldson, Mayor of Newmarket, had advised against amalgamation because every step toward Greater Auckland brought the day closer when their boroughs would have to join in. Regarding rating on unimproved values, a subject which amalgamation brought into consideration, Mr. Holdsworth said that the name was misleading. Unimproved values increased because of improvements in thee rating area. The speaker illustrated his argument from the cases of Mount Eden and Mount Albert. The present system of rating was not perfect. It was said to be a tax on industry, but what taxation was not? Its principle that the man who is able must pay was sound. The ratepayers would need to know some better system before they gave up the present one. Rating on unimproved values encouraged overcrowding. GREY LYNN’S EXPERIENCES In support of amalgamation, Mr. Holdsworth quoted his experiences in Grey Lynn before it joined Auckland. As mayor, he had seen the fal.'acy of running Grey Lynn as a separate borough, and later he advocated amalgamation, against the strong opposition of the borough councillors there. Amalgamation was carried by two to one, and 12 months later the councillors were entirely converted. The present system of local government was expensive and full of overlapping and duplication. There was not sufficient co-ordination among local bodies. An example of this farcical position was the proposed permanent fire brigade for Newmarket, through which the city brigade had to go to get to its own territory. The electricity reticulation in the Tamaki district was another example. Amalgamation was going on in all the cities of the world. It was only combination of local authorities that enabled a big scheme like Arapuni to be put through. Mr. Holdsworth then dealt with amalgamation from the standpoint of the Town Planning Act. As a man of wide experience on local bodied, he could earnestly advise the meeting to support amalgamation. Mr. M. G. McArthur quoted figures, obtained from the city valuer, comparing rates on specimen properties under amalgamation conditions and under present conditions. For a farm, Tamaki rating was £ll4 Os sd, and city rating £lls 13s Id. For a house, Tamaki £22 10s, city £l7 5s 2d. For a vacant section, city £7 1s Bd, and Tamaki £9 19s. Local rates could not be decreased for years under road board conditions. The members of the road board were almost wholly in favour of amalgamation. Auckland could never be what it ought to be under a multiplicity of local authorities.