EFFICIENT CONTROL OF PUBLIC SERVICES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 177, 17 October 1927, Page 9

EFFICIENT CONTROL OF PUBLIC SERVICES

METROPOLITAN COUNCIL CONFERENCE NEXT MONTH Details of the proposed Metropolitan Council scheme will be submitted to a conference of local bodies to be called early next month, stated Mr. E. H. Potter, Mayor of Mount Eden, this morning. This is the result of a meeting' held recently when the principle of the scheme was affirmed by the local bodies and a committee appointed to draw up details. It is a pity that the City Council had not called such a conference, said

Mr. Potter. In his opinion the scheme would have to be adopted sooner or later, and from the point of view of public economy and convenience, the sooner the better. In the proposed scheme, the details of which are not yet available, it is proposed that the Metropolitan Council take over and administer all the main services, such as transport water, main trunk sewers, etc., and also town planning 1 . Transport for the city and outlying areas was one of the problems that had grown too big for the present form of administration, said Mr. Potter. The experiences of large cities of the world went to show that the only solution was the one proposed. London found that it was better to leave local government in the hands of the various areas and to confine the actual city area as much as possible, and at the same time, control the main public services over the whole area by means of a metropolitan council. INADEQUATE TRANSPORT The tendency in Auckland at the present time was to enlarge the city area and for the City Council to attempt to undertake the work of various borough councils. The result was to be seen in an inadequate tramway system which by no stretch of the imagination could be said to be functioning economically or to the convenience of the citizens. Under a metropolitan board thetransport system would be considered in relation to the whole area, extending out to those districts which were naturally dependent upon the city. The wisdom of that policy was to be seen in the working of the Auckland Electric Power Board, which operated very successfully over a large area. . Once the scheme was taken up, said Mr. Potter, he anticipated little difficulty in obtaining the necessary legislation.