GRANT REFUSED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 831, 27 November 1929, Page 10

GRANT REFUSED

NO MONEY FOR HARBOUR BRIDGE ASSOCIATION

MT. ALBERT’S DECISION No financial assistance is to be given by the Mount Albert Council to the Harbour Bridge Association to help that body in the submission of its case to the commission of inquiry, the council decided last evening. There was a marked divergence of opinion on the propriety of making a grant of £ 5 to the association's funds. and as a result of the decision. Cr. W. G. Bussell tendered his resignation as the borough nominee on the Bridge Association. The proposed vote was opposed by the Mayor, Mr. L. H. Rhodes, who said that, although the bridge would be an advantage, he did not believe that Mount Albert would benefit. “If you had attended some of the Bridge Association meetings you would have held a different view.” Cr. A. A. Buckley told the Mayor. He asserted the bridge would be of vital importance to the suburban boroughs, and said he was ashamed to see Mount Albert. one of the biggest boroughs in Auckland, shouldering the. burden on to the city and other districts. Contending that the money spent on the bridge would not benefit Mount Albert, Cr. J. H. Langley opposed a grant on the ground that the rates were now very high and public money should not be diverted from the borough. Cr. "W*. G. Russell: It is too mean to squabble over giving £5. *T am sorry to hear the narrow and parochial feeling,” was Cr. G. E. Carr’s comment. He would be sorry to hear Mount Albert dubbed the “meanest borough in Auckland,” he said. The motion was defeated, the council also deciding that there was not sufficient information available for it to determine which system of financing the structure should be adopted.