BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 April 1921, Page 5

BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

NEW PLYMOUTH COUNCIL. GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE. The New Plymouth Borough Council met last night. Present: The Mayor (Mr. F. E. Wilson), Crs. W. F. Short, J. Kibby, R. 11 Parkin, V. Griffiths, and A. S. Brooker MUNICIPAL DEBENTURES. The Christchurch City Council sought approval of a resolution requesting the Government to amend the Local Bodies Loans Act to enable borough councils to issue debentures of the value of £5 each. The Christchiu*ch Council pointed out that there was no sale for municipal debentures at present, and they suggested there was a possibility of investors being induced to take up debentures of a lower face value than was now allowed by existing legislation. The council decided to take no action, being of opinion that little would be gained by the adoption of the proposal mooted in view of present conditions. WIDENING PAYNTER’S LANE. With regard to the council’s proposal that the new Post Office to be erected at Fitzroy should be set back some feet in order to allow of the future widening of Paynter’s Lane, the district engineer (Mr. T. M. Ball) wrote? 1 . . .

It is unfortunate that the building was started, otherwise the compensation would only be required for the land. If the council still desire to take advantage of the opportunity to prevent extra expense in the future, I think they should pay for the cost of having the foundations, which is only £3O, and the cost of the excavation on the land, which is to be reserved for street widening, which would have to be done in any case for grading the street. This would only incur a liability of £5O, and the council would have their street widening proposal well started.”

The Mayor stated that when in Wellington recently, Mr. S. G. ‘Smitn, M.P., interviewed the department on the question, and it was understood that the total cost of the removal would bs only £5O, and the council would also receive the land required for widening purposes without further cost. He was not in favor of paying more than this sum.

Or. Kibby advocated the council doing anything reasonable to enable the road to he widened, as he anticipated that with the erection of the building the danger at the corner would be increased. Or. Parkin remarked that the circumstances were not so bad as at first thought, as the building was to be erected seven feet back from the frontage, and not right on the boundary. It was decided that the council pay £5O, provided the foundations were set back, and that the council received 23 feet of land (for widening purposes) free of any compensation. LICENSING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

A report received on the question of licensing public buildings stated that the superintendent of the Fire Brigade had declined to certify to the Whiteley Church and to the Coronation Hail. In commenting on this the Mayor remarked that eight years ago the same conditions had applied in the case of the Whiteley Church, and though the church authorities were notified, no action was taken. Four years ago the question again came up with a similar result. Ch Griffiths stated that the matter had not been entirely ignored by the church authorities, as plans had been prepared twelve months ago, and the work would have been gone on with if •reasonable tenders had been received.

In reply to a question as to the conditions at the Coronation Hall, the general manager said the superintendent’s report intimated that the building should not be licensed as a public hall for amusement purposes as there was no seating accommodation, and if any was provided there was no guarantee that it would not block the exits.

Cr. Brooker inquired if this meant that the hall would not be available for entertainments.

The general manager replied that temporary licenses could be granted, and the custom was to wait till the building had been prepared for any particular function and to then issue a temporary license, subject to the council’s inspector approving. GENERAL, j

A letter was received from the secretary of the Taranaki Counties’ Conference (Mr. N. J. Tristram) stating that at a recent meeting the conference passed a resolution favoring the formation of a Local Bodies’ Association for Taranaki. The council was invited to join the organisation, but decided not to become a member, being of opinion that no good purpose could be served by a multiplication of existing associations.

The Mayor’s honorarium for the ensuyear was At