MUNICIPAL THEATRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 April 1918, Page 6

MUNICIPAL THEATRE.

In the year 1904 and again in 1914 I submitted rcccoimuendiitioiia for the exchange of certain borough land in King street for land owned by the Harbor Board near the railway station for | the purpose of a ,ito f or the Munieipa! Theatre. At the time the recommendation did not meet with the approval of the Council, and some time later the Carrington Road site was purchased. This property is a very valuable one, and no objection can be made to its purchase. It is, however, not f> suitable site for a theatre, and this is booming more apparent each year. The question of the site near the railway was revived during the current year and received a much more favorable' heading than it bad three year*.previously. a sub-committee was appbinted to submit a report upon the feasibility of arranging the exchange suggested The report being favorable, application was eventually made to the Harbor Board in regard to the matter, and negotiations are still proceeding. PURCHASE OF GASWORKS. This matter was first brought by me before the Council in 1904 and has'been mentioned at intervals in annua! reports since. The council, however, did not seriously consider the question until last year. An attempt was made to open up negotiations with the company but the directors declined to negotiate in an way. The council therefore instructed its solicitors to prepare I for submission to the next session of Parliament a local bill authorising the council to compulsorily acquire the wor*s. A certain amount of opposition will no doubt be offered to the biil when it comes before Parliament, but no great difficulty is (anticipated in getting the measure through. The supply of gas is a public service, and there is no question but that it should be m the hands of the municipality This is being more fully realised everv day and the council being in earnest in the matter, it is hoped that in next years report it may be shown that the acquiring of the works is well under way. SANITATION— CLEAN UP WEEK. In my last report I recommended a scheme for the general clean up of the town upon the lines of a similar scheme obtaining in certain cities of America, the recommendation was adopted by the council and the work undertaken in .November last. The scheme was taken up with great enthusiasm both by the residents of the town and by the Sanitary Inspector and his staff, and in the result proved much more successful than was originally anticipated. Practically every house and section in the borough had a general cleaning up. Rubbish of all descriptions was put out in startling quantities, " and removed by carts engaged by the borough for the purpose. In all some 250 loads, comprising approximately 130 tons of rubbish, were removed to the dumps. The benefits derived from such a general clean up are indisputable, but to prove of lasting benefit the scheme must be made an annual one. The cost to the borough amounted to £BO, but, this being the first time such a scheme was attempted, there was naturally an accumulation of several years to remove. Future clean up weeks, if undertaken annually, would i probably not cost half that amount. Expenditure of this nature is, however, money well spent, and must have a good I effect in regard to the public health of I the borough. I believe that this is the first occasion that such a scheme has been tried in New Zealand, but it has proved to be such a success that I have no doubt it will be adopted by other towns, and eventually become part of the business policy of every city and town in the Dominion. FIRE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCES. This matter received some consideration from the Finance Committee during the year when it was suggested that the council should set aside a fixed sum per annum, and take its own risk. With this view I have always been in full accord, subject to the condition that a substantial amount be set aside in the first instance and that a sufficient amount be allocated each year to meet any claims which may arise. After the first three years the fund should be well able to bear any demand made upon it, and a proportion of the very large amounts paid every year to the insurance companies should be saved to the council. The risk of disaster to the fund would be in the first few years only, and it is for the council to say whether they are prepared to accept the risk. WAIWAKAIHO BRIDGE. Although no reference to this bridge is contained in the printed edition of last year's annual reports this question was very fully dealt with in the original report. After the collapse of the bridge it was decided that the construction of the weir which bad been taken in hand by the Public Works Department should be delayed and that the County Council should immediately proceed with the reinstatement of the bridge. This has since been completed, the expenditure to date amounting to £3090, The concrete weir is estimated to cost £2645. Thus within the last two years an expenditure of £5735 has been incurred in order to proteqt and repair a bridge which originally cost £3198 to construct. As 1 previously pointed out it would have proved far cheaper to have completely demolished the original concrete structure and to have erected an entirely new bridge. VALUATIONS. / The triennial valuation of the borough was completed in January and the new assessment shows a fairly substantial increase amounting to approximately £IO,OOO on the annual value. That such an increase was possible in these abnormal times is very satisfactory, and is evidence of the continued prosperity of the town. Throughout the year the demand for houses was very persistent, and at the present time there is an inconvient shortage of dwelling houses. A large -number of new dwellings have been erected but the high cost of building materials and the great shortage of roofing iron' makes building almost prohibitive. This has led to a large number of sales of existing buildings, many people buying old buildings, who, under other circumstances would have erected new ones. The change in ownership of properties has therefore been abnormal, and has entailed a certain amount of extra work in adjusting proportionate values and sending out fresh rate notices.