23

H—2B

After consideration of all relevant facts, the Commission made the following recommendations, which were embodied in a report setting forth the reasons for same : (1) That the appointment be made of a Commissioner with administrative as well as engineering qualifications, and a knowledge of the requirements associated particularly with an urban unit of local government. (2) That the appointee be empowered to select, with such approval-as may be provided for by legislation, such staff as would enable him to undertake independent control during the period of major development. (3) That the legislation provide for the terms and conditions of appointment of the Commissioner, but in all other respects the appointee be given authority to exercise independently the functions to which reference was made. (4) That interim control continue until such time as the Local Government Commission determined, either of its own motion or following the presentation of a petition signed by not less than 20 per cent, of the electors in a defined area approximating 2,660 acres comprising the Titahi Bay and Porirua localities generally, or such additional defined areas as may be determined from time to time by the Commission. (5) That the costs associated with the interim control be met initially by advances from the Consolidated Fund, that such costs be apportioned generally on the basis of recoverable development expenditure in the Porirua and Titahi Bay localities, and that recovery be effected from such local governing authority as may be eventually constituted : Provided, however, that the costs associated with the planning of the Tawa Flat - Linden areas be met from time to time by the local authority which was recommended to control those localities. These recommendations, if implemented, will, we consider, enable the Porirua Basin to be planned effectively as a single unit, and development work will be closely co-ordinated with the Government, local authority, and private interests. The Tawa Flat and Linden areas, except for the provisions relating to over-all planning, were excluded from the area which we considered should be the subject of interim control, as with the exception of those works associated with highways and railways no Government development was being undertaken in these two areas. In our opinion, during the period of interim control of the Porirua and Titahi Bay areas, the Tawa Flat and Linden areas can be satisfactorily governed locally, and any negotiations which may be necessary in connection with water-supply and drainage may be entered into between the Government and the local governing authority we have recommended to control these two localities. Government agencies such as the Commissioner of Works, the Housing and Town-planning Sections of the Ministry of Works, and the Secretary to the Treasury will, we consider, be able to satisfactorily negotiate with the Commissioner we have recommended to control the Porirua and Titahi Bay localities. The question of setting up an urban local authority to govern the Porirua Basin was confined to the two areas comprising the Tawa Flat - Linden localities. Our investigations relating to the Tawa Flat - Linden areas indicated that the major portion of the present residential development is taking place in these two localities. At the time of review, 53 per cent, of the population, excluding the Porirua Mental Hospital, resided in these two localities, 52 per cent, of the dwellings in the Porirua Basin had been erected there, and subdivision into building sections comprised 54 per cent, of those in the over-all area, while building in the course of construction represented 82 per cent, of that in the whole area. The estimated rateable values were : capital, £692,785 ; unimproved, £251,175. These estimated rateable values will, in our opinion, provide sufficient general rating potential to enable Iccal services and amenities of a minor character to be provided in the immediate future, and will enable a satisfactory form of local administration to be set up. There is no doubt, however, that both these localities