Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1937. COUNTY ROAD PAVING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 254, 7 August 1937, Page 6

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1937. COUNTY ROAD PAVING.

Though from the point of view purely of comfortable travelling it is regrettable that the Ashburton County Council’s ideal of paved roads throughout the more populous parts of the district in five years* will not be realised, practical considerations of the roading policy are on the side of the extension of the term as outlined by the Minister in his letter to the Council published yesterday. The original plan, that formed the basis of the application to the Highways Board, provided for paving in various parts of the County, to a total of eighty-seven miles, at an annual cost to the Council, spread over seven years, of £7113, or, with a loan with a currency of ten years, of £5220. Under the Minister’s scheme of a tenyear programme, the County will have to provide £4500 per annum. The total contribution by the Highways Board will be exactly the same as under the shorter period. On the other hand, by financing the work out of revenue, the Council will be saved the interest that would be payable on a loan. Thus while the actual annual outlay will be less, the ratepayers will have the advantage that all the expenditure is productive. The financing of the longer programme will require a rate of only three-thirty-seconds of a penny, which cannot be considered burdensome. One of the councillors voiced a protest against the raising of the rates, but his protest was probably framed more as a matter of principle than as a definite objection. The Ashburton County has the enviable distinction of being one of the most prosperous districts in the Dominion and at the same time one of the lightestrated. Again, as should be apparent to all, the provision of better roads must result in a substantial saving in the farmers’ travelling costs, a saving, it is safe to say, more than counter-bal-ancing the additional rate. As a matter of fact, if all the taxes that are levied had a similar final effect, New Zealand would be a happy place indeed. Apart from this, there must be some offset in the reduced expenditure on maintenance of the roads themselves. Finally, the plan proposed by the Minister is in keeping with the traditional policy of the Ashburton County Council, which, in the public interest, should continue, as long as possible, to provide its facilities out of revenue. That is part of the secret of the County’s present fortunate position compared with districts where a load of debt has been incurred without due regard to the future.