H—2B

As part of its decision the Commission recommended that the Hutt River District should in future be divided into two subdivisions, one to consist of the Borough of Petone and the other to consist of the remainder—that is, the whole of the Lower Hutt City. For the Petone subdivision, two members should be elected, and for the Lower Hutt subdivision, four members. A provisional scheme incorporating the above-mentioned details was issued on the 20th April, 1948. Subsequently two objections which do not go to the root of the scheme were received. One such objection asks that the representation of the Hutt subdivision should be increased from four to five, on the grounds that the population and rateable capital value of the Hutt subdivision warrants this increase. The other objections were of a technical character related to the assumption by the Hutt River Board of the responsibility of the streams in the Petone Borough. Petone Borough itself requested that until the next triennial local-body elections the members on the Hutt River Board should be appointed by the local authorities whose districts are concerned, so as to avoid the necessity for holding another election. These objections have not yet been considered by the Commission. F. Proposed Domain at Lake Karapiro Consequent upon the construction of the hydro-electric dam at Karapiro, a large lake has been formed extending some fifteen or sixteen miles up the Waikato River. Several propositions had been submitted to the Government for the ultilization of the Karapiro Lake and the surrounding land for recreational purposes. In 1946 the Government set up an inter-departmental committee to report on the utilization of these facilities. This committee suggested that certain relatively small areas of land should be acquired by the Government and handed over to the local bodies for development as public domains. The Local Government Commission was asked to consider the setting-up of a Domain Board to develop the area, which it was informed was to be looked on as a Waikato regional recreational reserve. The proposal was that those local authorities whose residents would use the lake should contribute towards the cost of development (subject to some Government subsidy) in direct proportion to their population and in inverse proportion to their propinquity to the lake. In order that opportunity should be given for the local authorities to express their views as to the necessity and desirability for such a Domain Board, a public inquiry was held in Hamilton on 28th, 29th, and 30th August, 1947. With the exception of those local authorities whose districts immediately abut the lake, none of the local authorities in the Waikato were prepared to assume any responsibility for the development of the area. The general objections to this proposal were two ; first, that the lake and its environs could not be used for recreation or holiday purposes; and secondly, that even if they were to be so used, the responsibility for developmental work was a national one. It was obvious at the end of the inquiry that no agreement could be reached. At the request of the Commission the Mayor of Hamilton called a conference of local authorities in the Waikato to ascertain if some agreement as to relative responsibilities could be reached. The conference was abortive, and the matter is therefore still under consideration. VI. DECISIONS WITHOUT PUBLIC INQUIRIES From time to time various proposals where the local authorities involved were in complete agreement were submitted to the Commission under section 24 of its Act. In these cases there was no necessity for a public inquiry, but the Commission always gave an opportunity for interested parties to object by issuing and advertising a provisional scheme, which gave a month within which the proposals could be considered.

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