GREY LYNN LOANB PROPOSALS.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 35, 10 February 1909, Page 9

GREY LYNN LOANB PROPOSALS.

MEETING AT THE TIVOLI ■ THEATRE. -SE MEASURES EXPLAINED AND *** DISCUSSED. : :,. -dl-attended meeting, of ratepayers /rt?Borough of Grey Lynn was held c? f rt c Ti°oU Theatre, Newton, last even- " +n heir the Council's reasons for the Borough to vote a loan of So fo'borough improvements. The gy Or (Mr. Sayers) presided introducing the night's business. ■rtiirWor referred to the last loan proStirtnn which was defeated, and outE briefly the potty.'of the Council . of New Zealand, 2ftL offer that was finally made to tt Council. Whatever the ultimate Ec might have been, the Council would w e been obliged to make the roads- - zL** which would have cost the Borough £70,000 to make. Was it bet tor to stand out, or was it not better " toW vdth the best possible offer they Sre likely to get, whereby instead of J7OOOO Grey Lynn would get those roads ntade for £1S.500? The whole mat- ' - SUlad been well calculated by the Council, which had decided upon a policy cf improvement involving an expenditure of £45,000. The Bank's proposal was iiat it would convey to the Borough free of cost 30 acres of land, providing that tSi Borough made within five years roads through their estate at a cost not jfes than £18,500. The Bank, moreover, ! undertook to negotiate a 4J per cent loan of f45,000 for the Borough, with a } per . " «nt sinking fund, which carried the \ privilege of a further i per cent subsidy j from the Government. And £42,000 ~£ , 4Kis money would remain without in- j iEtest until such time as they wished to | lift it. The only stipulation the Bank j niade was that it was to be proieited against any compensation claim that might be made through the closing j m> , of this area at any time. The accept- j eace of this proposal of the Bank of New j Zealand was a fair and careful financial | arrangement, and in the best interests ! of the Borough. It was not likely that j tie Bank, as a business corporation,. . Tfiuld finance the scheme unless their K4a -pi the question received its fair ttllsideration, which was why the £4,000 appeared for. tram extension. But the tipenditure was for the benefit of .Grey ' Lynn, and would certainly in no way , ■depreciate the property of the rate- ! payers. £500 had been placed on the list for improvement to the proposed reserve of-30 acres. It was no use having a «si>rve if they did nothing to beautify it as a reserve. The refunds to the Joins account of £15,000 accounted for . £I#oo. To spend a certain fixed amount ! off Tdads was necessary by statute, and .. money nad to be Jound "for the work. ! Dialing with the allocation of £12,500 • fiir road formation and improve- j mtet, ihe chairman came to the £2,000, allocated for Rich- , aond-road. The work of cutting, forming, kerbing and channelling Richmond- : .. toad .yrould .amount to £"4,000," half of i "wiuckl-n-as to, be.paid by the city and isf % Greji; .Lynn. He . had been \ j credibly informed; by Isqme engineer*, in i , feet, that the cost could.be modified to • total cost of £3.000, leaving £1,000 for ! , tSe\EtreJch between Lincoln-street and ,;. Cc^3.- Bridge. That .work, . however, v:-«rol4not yet be done, owing to the main dtijs schenSe being not yet. accomplished. '■-. the improvement of Richmond- j a splendid fotpteh, -25ft. in | width, would be - obtained, while j : ihi foadwayi" too wide and expensive to ) I inaintain at present, would be narrowed to 40 feet,, plenty wide enough for .velicular traffic. Moreover, it would be - * splendid and a permanent work. The ' speaker dealt seriatum with the various •pirns on the proposal, declaring of the £1,500 set down for a stone crusher Md engine, thst it would mean a trejnehdous saving in the provision of load metal. Generally speaking the Council had endeavoured to allocate the amount co that the expenditure would ie fairly equalised over the Borough of ■ "GrevLymt : Coming to the question of rates, the Mayor said the loan would necessitate | a'rate" of 1 9-16 th of a penny, which, : roughly speaking, would mean 13/6 per ■ I: annum on a property worth £550 —a sum j of 13/6 a year. But the law said that | no council could collect rates until the loan for which they were struck had ■ Been eipended. And this loan would not , be all spent for a period of eight years, i -The Surrey Hills estate, lie contended, ■ ; Wjnld carry a population of 7000 people, | and increased population meant reduced j rates and increased values. Let them in- ' race population, and they would not only j . leten the burden of taxation, but Increase the values of th«r property. In short, the position before the ratepayers - was either one ultimate expenditure of £70,000 or more, or the achievement of mc same end for £18.500. They had wen fighting the bank for years, and if ws necessary that the matter should be settled—end settled before Greater Aucktad came, along. He asked the rateI»yers, therefore, to see these proposals trough, and settle for all time, not only «k qu&stion of these roads, but also tne gak-of New Zealand question. (Hear, 1..!* 1 * airmai i claimed that tlie Council I ™Q. spent between £8000 and £9000 in jffluaagß works, had been responsible for . ~? Gr «t North-road deviation, and a .PW of road improvement of which the conH " weU te P ro «d. and had , Pserally.carned out every part of their Programme during their two years of of- . ■ S- (Applause.) Speaking "of the tram the Mayor contended watrf the present loan were rejected fey "■'■■tttt «. <md - PeoP l ® snider the belief .r new Council would aavance a confined to the tramway : scheme, they would make a ,:..gf«3» WMtiln, for the great part of aL V<nr . ei k 7 over the Gie ? ky*n " * a selfißh consideration ■ ; eerfa^T *! f would almost '- : » counterpoint by Grey c? c Mgßd ttem ' before, to con-h-sJr c l TO P° s ale carefully and seriousin fayon* or the loan. (Ap"fco^S o^ 8^11 sPoke *t™gly in &* ieta« t WM not really aay ■■■■*k thT o °^ ( ° p P? itlo = a gah«t it, and •■■V*««£J2XLS? Opportunity or **■ •«S*tfS^i' w 2? d Ineah e °»p«- ----" G «y lean! a " a the adva neement M «»t aUtalKs la the history of i

Grey Lynn if they supported the loan. He contended the raising and administration of the loan would be expensive, that the allocation meant putting just £18,500 on the Bank "of New Zealand's property, which was not fair to the ratepayers. He could assure the ratepayers that the people of Richmond would reject the loan as it stood, but would be in favour of raising any money for the tram extension proposal. (Laughter and hear, hear.) Councillor Murray believed that on the 27th they would see a reversal of opinion which the ratepayers showed by the rejection of the last loan proposal. (Applause and hear, hear.) The scheme was one which embraced the whole borough, and would be to its general benefit. (Applause.) A number of questions concerning the two propositions were answered by the Mayor, after which" the following resolution, -proposed by Councillor Smith, was put and carried amidst enthusiasm: "That this meeting of Grey Lynn ratepayers, having heard the loan proposals, resolve to recommend the ratepayers to vote for the proposals, and earnestly hope that such proposals will Tjs carried 1 .""