H—2B

standards, and, further, that the subdivisional standards in the area are such that to provide borough amenities would involve substantial additional costs per unit over the costs within the borough itself. This is not an isolated instance. In all parts of New Zealand similar cases have been brought to our notice. It would appear that to meet these cases some long-term review is necessary so that lands likely to be developed for residential purposes within the not too distant future should be brought within the borough so that the subdivisional work will be up to borough standards. Y. INQUIRIES HELD A. Boroughs Several inquiries involving borough problems have been held by the Commission : —- (1) Change of Status: Mount RosMll Road Board A petition under the Municipal Corporations Act having been received by the Governor-General praying that the Mount Roskill Road District be created a borough, the matter was referred to the Local Government Commission. The subject-matter of the petition was considered some years ago by an ad hoc Commission set up under the Municipal Corporations Act. At that time the district, although used substantially for residential purposes, contained a large proportion of rural lands used for agricultural purposes. Those opposing the petition in this case substantiated their claim to the satisfaction of that Commission that the district was not suitable for creation as a borough, and as a consequence no change was made. In the interim, however, very substantial housing development has taken place in the district, chiefly by the Housing Division of the Public Works Department. A substantial proportion of the rural lands has now been developed for urban purposes, and the petitioners agreed that, in the circumstances, borough status should be granted. It should be pointed out in passing that as a road district the electoral franchise was that applicable to counties, under which large property owners were entitled to more than one vote. The petitioners claimed that, in the circumstances, the district was essentially an urban district which should be given all the powers and responsibilities of a municipal corporation and that the retention of plural voting in such an urban area was an anachronism. The petition was not contested by the Road Board, and no opposition to the prayer of the petition was forthcoming at the inquiry. The prayer of the petitioners was granted by the Commission under the provisions of the Local Government Commission Act, and following the issue of the final scheme Mount Roskill was created a borough on the 2nd October, 1947, the first election of the Borough Council taking place on the date of the usual triennial elections for local authorities. (2) Extension of Boundaries : Huntly Borough A proposal emanating from the Raglan County Council asked that a large area on the west bank of the Waikato River adjacent to the Huntly Borough should be excluded from the Raglan County and included in the borough. This proposal had its origin in an extra-urban planning scheme for the mining areas adjacent to Huntly recently promulgated by the Raglan County Council. As a result of the surveys necessary before the extra-urban planning scheme was issued, it appeared that the life of many of the small mining villages in the environs of Huntly was strictly limited. In several cases the lands on which the villages were at present situated were scheduled for active coal-mining operations. In several other cases the possibility of providing urban amenities at a reasonable cost was very remote, while in other cases again the location of the town was considered unsatisfactory. Further, it appeared that with the development of faster transport the tendency was for the miners to live in the Huntly district and travel each day to their work in the mines. The extra-urban planning scheme envisaged ultimately that by far the larger proportion of miners would live in Huntly ; particularly was this

12