HARBOR BOARDS' CONFERENCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 89, 5 October 1911, Page 2

HARBOR BOARDS' CONFERENCE

OONFKREXCE AT WELLINGTON. By Telegraph -Press Assoe.ia.tion. Wellington, Yesterday. . The liflh annual conference of liar-f hor boards opened to-day. Mr. Robert V Fletcher, chairman of the Wellington ] Harbor Board, who presided, said the J most important matters on the order paper was thai of the cost of elections. The last election cost the Wellington Board over £IOOO, and an amendment; of the Act was desirable in the direction of reducing such expenditure. The annual report showed that ti-ciity-twn boards are. affiliated. Mr. Greenland (Westport) moved a'n amendment of the Act to allow greater frculom in allowance by the boards of tiavelling expenses to members. An amendment was proposed by Sir A'tiiur Guinness (Greymouth) that the clause referring to expenses should defin ■ them as actually incurred as allowed and passed by the board. After considerable discussion both the motion and the amendment were lost. Mi". Loudon (Otago) moved an amendment to the Act in the direction of providing that boards should have power to charge storage on any goods allowed to remain in any shed, or wharf or approach thereto, for a longer term than allowed bv the laws.

ft was explained by Mr. Belcher (Otago) that at Dunedin a large quantity of coal and timber was dumped on the board's land, and the board was unable to charge for it. The motion was agreed to. The conference also passed a motion from the. Otago Board to empower boards to recover damages for injury to property in any court of competent jurisdiction. On the motion of the Otago Board it was resolved to extend the limit of lease from three to seven years, in case of buildings or parts of buildings, the property of a board, leased for any purpose other than the storage of goods. Tt was also resolved on the motion of Otago that board lands adjacent to wharf he included in the definition of the wharf.

By a narrow majority it was decided to empower a board to acquire or take under the Public Works Act more land than is required for any of its objects and dispose of any not' so required by the. sale thereof.

Wellington, Last Night. •Section 147 of the Harbors Act (provides, inter alia, that "harbor boards may on lands legally vested in them construct warehouses, sheds, etc., and may lease for a maximum term of three years." A motion that the Act be amended in the direction of extending such lease* to .seven years was agreed to, with practically no discussion. It wa- also agreed that .the Harbor Boards Act he amended so that lands of harbor boards adjacent to a wharf lie included in tin; definition of a wharf; that section lli'2 of the Act be amended so as to em[x>wer a board to acquire or take under the Public Works Act more land ,tkan is required for the purpose ill' any of the objects of tho board, the board to have power to dispose by «ile of any lands not so required; that section Ki3, sub-section a <if the Harbors Act, bo amended to provide that lands for harbor works may be token by boairds by Onler-in-Council under the provisions of tlio Harbors Act.

Oilier remits adopted were that the Local Authorities Superannuation Act be amended so Unit it would definitely state whether it referred only to permanent employees or also to employees engaged from day to day; that the interpretation clause "length of service" was in direct contradiction to the wording of section 22: Unit the Harbors Act he amended by providing that harbor boards fihall have power to charge storage on any goods allowed to remain in any shed or mi any wharf or approach thereto for a lunger term than allowed by harbor boards' by-laws; that the following chuiM' be. added to section 01 (responsibility for injury to works of harbors) of Harbors Act: "'And such damages may be recovered by the board by action in any court of competent jurisdiction; that section 207, sub-sec-tion 4. which »ives harbor boards power to make by-laws in regard to levying of harbormasters' fees and port charges, be amended by inserting ''pilotage, rates referred to in the fifth schedule to the xVct"; that a clause be inserted in the Act empowering harbor boards to appoint trustees to till vacancies in the control of the lands set aside for sailors' rest; that section 30 of the Act of HiOS. giving the governor power by Order-in-Council to divide rating districts into wards, be remedied; that section 12 of the Cold Duty Act, 1908, be amended to include harbor boards in schedule of local bodies entitled to receive gold duty on all gold dredged from foreshores and gold recovered from talings deposited on foreshores; that goldfields revenue obtained from leases, etc., on foreshores be paid to harbor boards; that provision be made for exempting foreshores in occupation of harbor boards from rating where a local body's boundary is fixed at low water mark; that section 131 of the Harbors Act be amended by giving power to boards to grant foreshore licenses to lay down boat-sheds and skids of fixed limited size for pleasure purposes without the necessity of obtaining the approval of the Governor-in-Council, provided that, such licenses shall contain provisions that boards shall be entitled at any time to determine the same without compensation to licensee upon giving licensee three months' written notice thereof, the licensee to have the right to remove structures erected by him.