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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]

Borough Of Feilding

Borough Of Feilding.

The Borough of Feilding, which was constituted in 1881, has an area of 2,300 acres. Rates are levied on the unimproved value, which in 1907 amounted to £325,453. At the same time the total capital value of all properties within its boundaries amounted to £571,305. A general rate of 2d in the pound on the unimproved value, a library rate of £1/16d., a special rate of £4/5d. for water works loan, and £3/16d. for surface drainage loan are levied. The water rate is on the annual value, namely, under £12 10s., a rate of 10s., under £200, five per cent.; under £300, four per cent.; and over that sum three per cent., with concessions in special cases. The total loans, exclusive of those from the Government, are £30,000 for water supply, £6,000 for surface drainage, £900 for municipal buildings, and £1,600 for sewerage. The sum of £46,500 was expended on the water supply and drainage, and £3,370 on the abattoirs. The water supply is drawn from the Oroua river, and stored in a reservoir, capable of holding 240,000 gallons; it is distributed by means of twenty miles of mains. A complete system of removing rubbish for destruction by burning is carried out under direction of the council. About £100 per annum is granted towards the maintenance of a well-equipped volunteer Fire Brigade. The municipal chambers are situated in Kimbolton Road, and at the rear is a brick building containing a library and reading room (with 3,500 volumes exclusive of magazines), a ladies' room, public newsroom, and a large meeting room. The borough is lighed by gas supplied by a local company, which has established the necessary works and contracted with the council to maintain fifty street lights at £4 10s. 6d. each per annum. In addition to the two splendid squares, which are well kept and planted, the borough owns the Victoria Park, a beautiful recreation ground, with an area of sixteen acres. It is well laid out, and adapted for athletic sports, public functions, and recreative purposes generally. The site of the abattoirs contains eighteen acres, and provides ample paddock room for stock. In addition to these lands the corporation yards cover three-quarters of an acre, the pound enclosure two acres, and the site of the reservoir another two acres. The members of the council for 1907–08 are: Messrs. W. J. B. Trewin (mayor), J. G. Cobbe, E. Goodbehere, T. West, J. Darragh, S. W. Fitzherbert, A. Richmond, J. W. Bramwell, H. Tolley, and A. H. Atkinson (councillors). Mr. J. Rankin is town clerk and treasurer, and Mr. W. J. Roche, engineer.

Councillor Arnold Hugh Atkinson was elected to the Feilding Borough Council in April, 1907. He is a nephew of the late Sir H. A. Atkinson, was born in Taranaki, and was educated in New Plymouth and at Nelson College. After five years' service in the Bank of New Zealand, he was for some time on the staff of Messrs. J. H. Cock and Company, of Nelson. He subsequently settled in the Feilding district, and for fifteen years was engaged in farming pursuits, but in 1905 he again turned his attention to mercantile life. Mr. Atkinson was a member of the Provincial Executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, was a member of the Kiwitea County Council for six years, and for two years was a member of the Wanganui Education Board.

Councillor Sidney Wyndham Fitzherbert, who occupies a seat on the Feilding Borough Council, is a solicitor and the senior partner in the firm of Messrs. Fitzherbert and McIntyre. He was born in the Lower Hutt, Wellington, in the year 1878, is the second son of Mr. Henry Samuel Fitzherbert, stipendiary magistrate at New Plymouth, and a grandson of the late Sir William Fitzherbert, sometime Superintendent of Wellington. He was educated at private schools and at the Wanganui Collegiate School. After leaving college he spent two years on his uncle's sheep station at Mangawhare, Hawke's Bay, then spent two years and a half on the literary staff of the “New Zealand Times.” He subsequently entered the legal profession, under Messrs. Brandon, Hislop and Johnston, of Wellington, and after qualifying, in 1903, spent a short time with his brother, Mr. Lockhart Fitzherbert, then of New Plymouth. In March, 1904, he commenced his practice in Feilding, and the following year took Mr. McIntyre into partnership. Mr. Fitzherbert has always taken the keenest interest in local affairs, has been twice elected to the Borough Council, is chairman of the Park and Cemetery Committee, a member of the Works Committee, a member of the Palmerston North Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, and treasurer of the local lodge of Freemasons. For many years Mr. Fitzherbert has been a student of sociology, and he is endeavouring to develop a system possessing the principal virtues of socialism and at the same time allowing the utmost freedom to the individual. Mr. Fitzherbert is married, and has one daughter.

Councillor Theodore West, a member of the Feilding Borough Council since 1904, was born at sea, on board the ship “Wave of Life.” He was educated at Ackworth, Yorkshire, England, afterwards served an apprenticeship to the building trade under Mr John Hallthorp, of Leeds, and then spent eighteen months in the architectural department of the North Eastern Railway Company. In 1885 he came to New Zealand, found employment in Auckland for ten years, then removed to Feilding, and established himself as an architect, builder, and contractor, in Manchester street. Mr West is noted for his thoroughness and reliable workmanship, and among the many buildings which he has erected may be mentioned the new premises of the New Zealand Farmers' Motor Company, Limited. As a poultry fancier he is a prominent member of the Palmerston Poultry Association and a frequent prize winner. Mr West is married, and has two sons and one daughter.