ABOLITION OF ROAD BOARDS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1876, 25 June 1888, Page 3

ABOLITION OF ROAD BOARDS

] A meeting of ratepayers wsb held at tho j Wnkanui School on June 22nd. About thirteen ratepayers were present atid Mr Jaa. Brown occupied (he chair, The Chairman stated the meeting had been called at the request of the County Council to oonaldec whether it would bo advisable to divide the present county Into two oounties and abolieh the Road Boards ; he would thereforo ask them for an expreaeion of opinion. Mr David Wilson proposed f ' That it (a the opinion of tbia meeting that It wonld be much to the benefit of the ratepayers if the Road Boards wero abolished, and tha works of the district uoder'aken by the County Council." Re said there waa no reason why Road Boards should be continued; they had not enough to do and the works could be wall undertaken by the Council. The arguments used at the Newlauds meeting were wrong. He contended that If £750 was saved by the i abolition of the. Road Boards it wonld bo so much more for the Council to spend. As a fact there were no further worka , required and he ridiculed Mr Megaon's mo , tlon as the height of nonsense. He alluded : to other counties, south of Ranglttta where there were no Road Boards, and the work seemed to bo carried oat all tight. The matter should be looked at from a financial point of view. It waa necessary to retrench the administration, and eoonomy should oommcmce at home. The County Council was composed of , intelligent men ; the members of the \ Road Board were not snob, well edcoated men. The Council ould do much more than Road Board members. With regard to Mr L'.ll'j remarks at Newlanda that the Council should meet the ratepayers, he considered ratepayers' meetfn£i a farce. The ratepayers showed great apathy m the matters of the district. Men would not oome forward to accept a seat on the Board and thus the Surveyors and members could do as they pleastd. He considered Road Boards should be wiped out, Mr S. Brown seconded the motion. Several questions were aeked with reference to the salaries paid by the Oonnoll and the Road Board. The Chairman said that the abolition of Road Boards would not be satisfactory, as the ratepayers would lose looal oontrol over affilro. He said that neoeasarily the ridlngß would be large, and even at present different rates were Btrack la a Road District, thus an injustice would be done to the districts not requiting works, but whioh would be Bubjeot to the same rate. It would abolish the Ward system, which was the principal safeguard of the ratepayers. If the resolution were carried out It would mean that the County Engineer would be supreme, as one member could not poßsibly give soffiolent time to attend to the requirements of a largo area of country, consequently uny question would be relegated to the Engineer, and possibly works undertaken that were not absolutely required. He considered If there was any savlog m the eohemo it would be by having works not attended to. Mr Laadley thought that the community wan overgoveroed. The taxpayers generally had to maintain a large staff of servants. la New Zealand every one m ten was a public servant. It was time retrenchment commenced. He considered the Road Boards had ontllved their usefulness. They had done good work In times gone by, but they were no loDger required, and he supported their abolition and merging Into the county. People had said the Council were not approchable by the ratepayers. He thoaglt this was an advantage as some ratepayers a'ways had grievances and wore constantly bringing up small matters. Public men were placed In a position that they should not be, and* found It was painful to adjust tho grievances of parties. He supported Mr Holmes motion. On Mr Wilson's motion being put -8 vcted for and 2 against it. The meeting then dispersed.