MUNICIPAL EFFICIENCY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 642, 19 April 1929, Page 10

MUNICIPAL EFFICIENCY

WAY TO CIVIC PROGRESS MR. VAILE’S PROMISE I ! MAYORAL CONTEST To place municipal affairs in Auckland on a sound business footing is the promise made by Mr. H. E. Vaile. a candidate for the Mayoralty, who opened hi 3 campaign last evening by addressing a l I large audience in the Town Hall » ) Concert Chamber. 4 i AILK imparted what he , ! x termed “a fireside chat” upon ! L j municipal government, and throughout- j . his address was given the hearty ] plaudits of over 400 people, who I cheered him as he rose to ayteak. and | expressed confidence in him after his j - speech. ; Sir George Fowlds, who was in the chair, said the candidate had not j sought the mayoral candidature, but offered his services in response to a i request from business men. He (the , chairman) believed the time for a ‘ change in the Mayoralty had arrived, if ! for no other reason than that the present i Mayor had occupied office for four 1 years. Periodical changes in such 'an office in Auckland were desirable. Mr. ! Vaile’s work on the Jubilee Institute ; for the Blind, the Memorial Museum i and the Society of Arts was praised j by Sir George Fowlds. On the platform also were Mrs. Vaile, Mr. T. U. Weils, Mr. A. J. I-lutchinson, Mr. 11. R. ; Jenkins. M.P., Mr. A. Spencer, Mr. A. ! C. Lovegrove. Mr. J. Slianly, Mr. and ! Mrs. I. J. Goldstone. Mr. Vaile assured his audience that j his motive in contesting the Mayoralty j did not embrace financial considera- | tions nor political ambitions, but was i a sincere desire to serve, free of all j charge, his native city—Auckland. He j was the nominee-of no particular sec- ! tion of the community. Religious and political controversy had no legitimate place at the Town Hall, where he pi'oposed, if elected, to effect reorganisation which would produce economy and efficiency in the dispatch of business. He undertook, in fact, to place municipal government on a sound business footing, just as if it were a large company—councillors as directors, with the Mayor as chairman. ! (Applause.) RATES AND RENTS So far as finance and rates were con- | cerned. Mr. Vaile said the method j adopted to keep down rates was wrong, j Last year, what was really a capital ; sum was applied to this purpose, and the valuation of dwellings had been raised considerably, to provide further income. During the past year or two there had been a heavy fall in rents, and yet the valuations had been increased. Where owners were holding their allotments for very high prices { there might be an excuse for rating i them high, but to say that rental ! values had been increased lately j seemed to him absurd. Traffic problems in Auckland were i grossly exaggerated. “Queen Street is talked of as if it were Piccadilly or I Fifth Avenue,” the candidate declared. 1 “The real trouble is, there is too little j I traffic instead of too much. Motors ! race one another up and down the street, whereas, if there were five times as many, they would have to move at an even pace, as in other cities. “Whether we like it or not, we must, too. consider the question of parking. In view of the revenue obtained from the motorist, he is entitled to some consideration, and space should be provided near the Town Hall and at the waterfront. For every horse and trap in the old days there are 20 cars now. Horse-drawn vehicles are a difficulty in handling traffic in many parts' of the city, and now that satisfactory * mechanical transport lias, been found, I hope to live to see the day when the horse is no longer a beast of burden in modern streets.” STREET CONSTRUCTION M ETHODS Mr. Vaile proposed to alter the syster of street construction, because, he averred, we had for too long been worshipping the fetish of a 66-foot street. He proposed to adopt the method of other countries, where the authorities dedicated it for 66 feet, formed it for 40 feet, and set the houses back 45 or 50 feet from the centre of the road. The balance of the land (13 feet on either side) was thrown into the owners’ gardens, and might be resumed without compensation should it ever be required. For years he had advocated this system, as a means of saving many thousands of pounds, and he was pleased now’ to have the backing of Mr. Mawson, Government Director of Town Planning. In matters of this sort and in many other cases, the assistance and advice of outside societies. such as the Town-Planning Association, the Surveyors’ Institute, etc., might well b© sought, he suggested. (Applause.) Regarding traffic outlets, Mr. Vaile ] said speculators should be kept from the market when a prospective move was discussed. The Anzac Avenue scheme was carefully thought out and managed, and would have been a much greater financial success had not the land been forced upon the market at an inappropriate time and sold much too cheaply. RELIEF OF DISTRESS Grounds for all forms of sport found his most enthusiastic approval, and. he claimed credit for sponsoring the best grounds scheme in recent years for the promotion of all forms of sport. He had headed a big deputation asking the City Council, by arrangement with the Government, to reserve 20,000 acres of bush at the West Coast. 25 miles from the General Post Office, and fronting the two-mile beach, for a cottage and camp sites. Aren could be employed on the road construction there. In the general world of finance, money was piling up and soon must j overflow’. Natural beauties would be preserved • under bis Mayoral guidance, for money j spent judiciously upon beautification of the city was well expended, making the city attractive for increased population. “Let us hold fast to Hobson’s Bay,” he urged. (Applause.) He was a Greater Aucklander. “I cannot imagine how it can possibly be in the public interest for a population of 200,000 to be governed by 25 local bodies, each with its own staff, to say nothing of drainage, power, fire, hospital, and other boards,” be went on. “Our population is no more than that of a small suburb of London, and the sooner we get together and realise that we are only one community, working for the good of all, the better. If we have any little troubles or jealousies, surely we can settle them.” Mr. Vaile advocated the ward system of voting, to save ballot-paper confusion, closer co-operation between local bodies and the Government, and between the council and ratepayers* organisations, as well as strict attention to street maintenance, the preveni tion of overlapping in the health and j traffic inspection and weekly meetings ! ‘ f the council. He urged, also, that j Auckland’s new city engineer should be ! Several ciuestions were answered. '■ I He favoured the harbour bridge, pro- j I riding it did not burden the ratepayers. ’ j The meeting accorded Air. Vaile a

} ote °f thanks and confidence, moved by Mr. T. L\ Wells, seconded bv Mr 0. L. Conlan. , P, urinK Mr - Valle’s campaign he will hold meetings at the following placebriday, April 19, Peerless Hall. S*. Heliers. April 20. Leys Institute. PonW- T »"n Hall, Avondale; iFwi V. iL >IIC HaU - Point Chevalier; April _4. Parnell Library, 7.30 pm nwram p*?’ * pm ' : April -«• Kohimarania Picture Theatre; April 24 Pern,'™ C ? P ? P ' V.M.C.A.. 7.30 p . m .; Cr?v Tv Library. S p.m.; April 30. '- rI nn Library.

All these meetings, except where otherwise stated, will begin It t p.m