PROPOSED NEW RIDING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 192, 4 August 1908, Page 3

PROPOSED NEW RIDING.

COASTAL DISTRICT'S OBJECTIONS.

■ A large deputation representative ot I tlle , k«n«tt, Oiuata, Oakura, llnrfoV and lataraimaka Koad Boards wailed . | on the County Council yesterday to pro- ., tost against the proposal to abolish ii lL . . CaiTiiigton, PrauKley, and Eliot road [ districtsinto the county and to form a now riding out of that area, .which | would be cut out of the present Omau "ding, lhe deputation was the outcome ot a meeting 'held about a fortnight a"u and reported in these columns. .Mess?, • U Carter (Carringlon Koad Board) and' N. Aiubury (Prank.ey Koad Board) attended to present the petitions from the ratepayers in the area to be dealt wit,., the chairman asked the deputation to appoint a spokesman or spokesmen, fo" it would take up a lot of time if ea-h delegate were to "have his say." He

then asked the deputationists to state j their business. air. P. J. Morris, Oakura, said they would ln-st like to know the position of allans in connection with the iu-.v ruling. The chairman said the position was that the Council was now holding a special meeting to pass a. resolution making a special order dissolving the Carnugton, Elliot, and Praukley Howl Boards, and merging the said areas into the county of Taranaki, as from the 31-u March, 1DU0; to pass a resolution ma.v-1 ing a special order Unit the Omnia ruling be divided and a new riding oo created, to include the whole of the Carnngtou, Erankloy, and Elliot road districts, the Omata riding to include du remaining portion of the present Omata ruling, namely, Barrett, Omata, Upper Hurford. Oakura, Tataraimaka, Oka to, and Werekino road districts, and to retain the name of the Omata riding; to appoint the representation for each riding, and that the alteration to the boundaries take effect as from the 31st o£ March, 100' J.

Mr. Morris, in answer to In's further question, was informed that the couutv would then have to maintain the road's m those districts. . He asked, -Will you be able to do it out of the -revenueT and the chairman replied, "They won't get any more."

Mr. Morris: Then we in the Omata riding will "fall in the soup." The chairman: 1 don't know about that.

Mr. Moms: We've been getting £BOO a year from these districts for expeudi- ■ ture on the Main South road. How will you maintain the road if vou lose that money ? The chairman: How will wc do it if they join the borough ? , Mr. Morris asked the Council to hang the matter up lor a month. Mr. Carter mentioned that the petitions were in order, that no counterpetitions were in, and there was no provision for opposition by people outside the area affected. Mr. Morris explained that the postponement was merely with a view of informing Road Board members and ratepayers in the Omata riding of their position. They didn't, understand it, and he was afraid they'd "fall in the soup/' He didn't think the Omata riding could | afford to lose this £BOO a year, for it inul the heaviest worked road in the district. This thing had been "jumped on them all at once." (Dissent from , the Council table.) The chairman said that what the Council had to consider was that the petitioners had ■complied with the Act and were entitled to have the matter proceeded with. In suggesting that the new dislri.-t should carry an extra farthing ra t o : o: . the Main South road, Mr. Morris said that the petitioners left, the borougn to escape the borough rates, and now they wanted to escape road rates too. ' . Mr. E. E. Bayly (Omata) said the ' move was going to inllict another 40 , miles of road on the county without extra funds to maintain them. i The chairman said the new riding ' would maintain its own roads.

Mr. Bayly complained that about £BOO a year from the proposed riding was now spent on the county roais. Under the new scheme it would go to its own district only. The chairman: if they form a county of their owe, or go into the borough, we'll lose it all the same.

Mr. Morris repeated that unless th; new riding bore an extra farthing rale for the South road the Omata riding would "be in the soup," Cr. Hill: These people say they've been "in the soup" all along. Mr. Carter, iuvited to reply, said that from the manner in which Mr. Morris and the other delegates seemed to apprehend this question they were "in the soup" already. They wanted the Council to wait. Had his district waited'! They had had a meeting on a Tuesday night, got all their petitions signed »y . Friday night, and the necessary advc;'- . tising done on the .Saturday. And no*, after the whole matter had been thoroughly ventilated in the newspapers tor six or eight weeks, and the matter had been fully discussed at this Council tab'e, these gentlemen wanted to "wait a bit." These same gentlemen had passed a resolution a fortnight ago to the eilWt that they didn't want the Carrington, Frankley, and Elliot districts in the Omata riding. Since then they had done nothing, but now they appeared before the Council, having apparently no confidence in their own riding members. He and his colleagues could not afford to wait. There was no time. These resolutions, if carried to-day, must \>c confirmed at the tScptember meeting lllu i gazetted before Ist October, or the who'e matter would be hung up for another year. He quoted a few figures from the 100(5-7 statistics, the latest subsidy figures available. The Barrett Koad Board, valuation £133,20:1, struck a rate of %d iin the £, and the Council benefited by Government subsidy to the amount of £OO 14s; Oukura, y x d rate on £100,053, subsidy £24; Okato, Vid on £IOB,IBO, subsidy £27 Os 7d; Omata. Vd on £7!),U00, subsidv .CIS 9s Id; Upper Hurford, %d on £21,000, £ls Sis 3d; Werckino, %d on £37,000, £!) 9s 3d. Compare that with the three districts he was representing: Carrington, %d rate on £133,885, subsidy £7O 7s lOd; Franklev, %d on £74,000, subsidy £SB 2s 7d; Elliot, %d on £50,773, subsidy £3O 15s sd; or a total of £174 from the three districts as against £l)4 10s lOd from the five road districts represented by the deputation. If they were sincere in their professed desire to help the Council, let them take on a bigger district rate. Submitting to a %d county and %d -road rate would probably give them an idea of the position in which they found themselves. Mr. Morris would probably understand this next illustration: That gentleman was rated on 005 acres, valued at £11,421, paying £35 13s fld county rate and £ll 17s Id road .board rate, a total of £47 Is Bd, and the county received £3 in subsidy. In the Carrington district there was a farm property of 300 or 400 acres. This was valued at £14,523, or about £.''o an acre. County rates at %il in the £ were £45, and a similar amount was levied by the road board, a total of £OO. The county got £ll 10s in subsidy, or more than half as much as the subsidy from the whole Omata district. These gentlemen had forgotten to state that their districts were traversed 'by the, county road, whilst in the proposed riding there was not one yard of it. Mr. i Carter concluded by remarking upon the . delay of the objectors, who seemed only . now to be waking up to the position ■ that "our £BOO, instead of being dumped on their roads, is going to be put on . ours."

Mr. Morris referred (sarcastically lo tin; gentlemen living; iu nice suburban villus close to the town, kept up by thcountry settlers. Mr. Anibury retorted that the ownr.s of those villas had taken up .ClO mi acre laud, like Mr. Morris', and improved it by buildings and other improvements until now it was rated at £101) an ace.

(Jr. (leorge mentioned that he had opposed the new riding scheme, and it transpired thai he was absent when do vote of the Council was taken. Mr. Muiris wanted time to consult tfie ratepayers. A lot of people on the back roads didn't understand. "I'm sorry we didn't notice it before," he said.' ".It was only when it was pointed out to me that I started to see it."

Mr. (Javier: Then it may not be at th.' wish of your ratepayers that you are here. Continuing, he asked the Council - either to grant or reject the prayer of the petitions, not to defer it. The deputations having retired, the chairman moved in the direction indi- - cated in his remarks to Mr. Morris at - the beginning of the discussion. Or. Hill seconded. I Cr. Adliiiu moved an amendment tiiat I the matter be deferred for a speci.ii meeting in a fortnight's time. This would give the ratepayers "a show of going into the thing.'' He pointed o'.ii (hat this merging, or alteration of boundaries, was decided on the vote of j councillors representing other ridings. Cr. Andrews, in seconding, agreed with I Cr. Adlam dial members from'other rid- I 1 ings interfered 100 much in (Jmata ruling affairs. The chairman said the objectors had come at the last miuiile. Tim oilier people bad gone to a lot of trouble, imv ' (he llnmta objectors had gone to none, ' and there was no assurance that they • would do anything. ! Cr. Hill: they certainly wade, out fl ) poor case as against Mr. Carter's. f Cr. Andrews: He ought lo have bcei( " a lawyer. » The amendment was lost, no division being called, and the motion was carried.

Upon the chairman informing the objectors that- they could lodge their objections at next mcetin", prior to confirmation of to-day's resolutions, Mr. Carter questioned the advisableness of encouraging these gentlemen to go to -trouble in getting signatures to petitions which would have absolutely no standing with the Council. We received an intimation last night from an authoritative source that the oh- j lectors intended taking no further steps in the matter.