ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2321, 6 January 1890, Page 2

ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL

The oed*n»ry mating of the Achbaiton County Ooa>>oil was held thlt •fternooo. Present:— Mpmts W 0. Wilkei (ohalruvjf) W McMiH n, John Orlgg, X, S Uoster, J. Jiokton, H. FdedUndet and 0. J. Harper. Apologies were reoelved for the absence of Afeasra B. G Wrl«h: and JiS Brown. ENGI VEERS' REPORT.

The Engineers' report was read at follows;— Plains Water supply : The contractor is making fair progress with-the works *of the auxiliary water supply from RaVaU .river at Acton. Nos i and 2 contacts are completed, and part of No. 3. To-morrow I will mark off tae new race forming connection- between E2 and El races the formation of which will complete the works" authorized for the auxiliary service^ The improvement of creek at West's, which wa? authorized seme r time ago has just been completed. The ranger reports that some clearance is necessary in same creek, through RS 17233, the co3t of which will be about £2 ips. The Wakanui creek was partially shut off for three' Says/ about Dec. 23rd, to provide faci ities for clearing creek, but the object was imperfectly accomplished, through inadequate regulation at the intake, as explained in the'ranger's reportr The supply for the various races.is being^ well kept up, but the silt which resulted* from the season's high winds is beginning to produce a growth of weeds in many parts, the clearing of which must be attended to by occupiers now, before harvesting operations commence, and greater care tban has hitherto been exercised, will be necessary dur'ng harvest, in keeping the races clear of straw* The travelling shingle has of late been very- troublesome at Pudding Hll dam, necessitating daily attention in'flushing out to prevent damage'to the Icing line of concrete channel at intake. ■ -

Ashburton. Rangitata Water. Supply: The supply for this district is in a fairly satisfactory, condition, the only exceptions .being the loiter end of Coldstream district and Willowby race, the former to a considerable extent being owing to the lessening supply from Hinds Gorges, which invariably taker place at this season of the year,. and the latter to the (resent small yield of connecting race at Osborne's road. " The deficiency has, however, keti made up as far at possible from the larger mains. The intake at Westerfield has also been cleared out for the purpose of keeping up the supply in the Ashton-district Some of the settlers near Flemington had been irrigating from Ford's creek for a,'shqrt time, to the detriment of the settlers'~lo'w£r' down, whose supply from the* creek ; itself, and also from race led out of it, was Almost entirely cut off, but ths practice has now been discontinued. '"" " " ' *

Mount Corners Wa fer Supply.: The sapolj for the Upper districts is satisfacto y but the Forks "district his been for a short'" time made* quitely supplied, on account of the recent rapid growth of cresS in fte intake channel at Alford This is ,now : being removed and the usual supply will he available in a diy or two. Bridges : Some "iitinor repairs of decking have been executed as was recessary. North approach, Upper "Rangiata Bridge; In accordance w.th request to report on this matter. I beg to state that the present wire fence on the .embankment, which is seven chains in length, is very mnch broken down, and is not an efficient soft or fence' for slock travelling insuch a narrow roadway: What seems fo me tol>e required there h a fence on each side extending from the bridge along the embankment and for a further distance of eight chains through the cutting, turned off in bell* nnuthed form at the top of the terrace, such fence to consist of posts with three battens 4x2 and three wires alternately on each side. The posts would be obtainable from somCbf the bridge timber, and' the to'al cost of fencing would ba aSout £3s. In the event of the embankment only.bnng fenced, the. annuil expense of clearing the cutting (on account of •rosion by sheep) wou'd be about £$ t but the extension of the fence upwards through the cut-ing would provide greater facilities lor the driving of seeep, of which considerable nunv bers pass that way, there being no provision at present for crossing stock at tbe lower bridge. Bakaia Gorge Bridge, South approach: With reference to the information requested as to cost of maintenance, that has been defrayed by the Mount Hutt Road Bard, the work undertaken by the Council from time to time hiving been for construction, the more recent work being for extension of retainirj wails. • ;

Mileage of Mains, etc : As some' allusion was made to th j. question of mileage of ma:ns or head races throughout the water race system, I have prepare J a table giving such information from which you will observe there are 22 miles of mains in Ashbur-ton-Rakaia district supplied from five different sources and 510 road.and rsilway crossings in this district. The -(Vshbuttonßangitata dis« trict contains 30 miles of head races from five different siurces, and "2to road and.railway crossings, and Mount Somers distrct contains S miles of head races from four source/ and 30 road crossings.—As requested I also beg to append estimate of maintenance of water race system for four years, with correspoading revenue derivable at different dates. The estimate of maintenance Hoes not, of course, include new works or enlargements of races. (Left Sitting)