AKAROA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 631, 1 August 1882, Page 2

AKAROA COUNTY COUNCIL.

A special meeting of this Council was "* held on Saturday morning. Present— Messrs T. S. Baker (Chairman), Fleming, Pettigrew, J. Gebbie, Masefield, Boleyn, and the Rev. R. R. Bradley. _ The Chairman said this special meeting has been called to-day to consider a peti - tion praying* for the abolition of the Akaroa and Wainui Road Board, signed by 97 ratepayers, representing half tho rateable property in tho Akaroa and

aunder the ci I, of the signatures petitions, may appoint PB-Jffssioners to enquire into the matter, ■and it will be for your, consideration today whether the Council should do this or not. : The petition for abolishing the Road Board was signed by 101 ratepayers, but four, of these not being on tbe roll it {leaves 97, but these are nine more names than are actually required by the Act. Half the .rateable property has to be represented, and this has been, done, for £8781 lis are represented: out of a total of £16*439 145,:0r £SGI tmore than required. Thp.contra petition, however, contains 132 names, representing £6886 18s Id, or £1,407. and Id more than necessary. The ■greater number of those signing the first petition have had their signatures certified to and duly initialled by Mr E. S.. Latter, and Mr Knight said fee would be in attendance, to certify to,tbe rest. As he is not here, however, the petition can : haTdly be •entertained, as those certified to by Mr Latter do, not make up the requisite number by themselves., The contra petition is ;also informal, for instead of each name being initialled and certified to according to the act, there is only a general declaration signed by Mr J. Barwick, stating that •to the best of his. belief the signatures are (genuine. After considerable discussion of a conversational nature, Mr Bradley said that <they must treat the matter in a broad _ight a 8 devoid of technicalities as pos sible. Both petitions seemed t® be informal, but the broad fact remained that more seemed to wish that the Road Board ■should be retained than that it should be He did not believe in going to any further expense or trouble iri the •matter by appointing commissioners, more particularly as the Government were at that very time considering tbe question of local government themselves. Let matters _tand as at present. He would move : ■" That the petition to abolish the Akaroa .-and Wainui Road Board be not enter-, tamed." t Seconded by Mr Beleyo. Mr Gebbie asked if that meant that the (petition was finally done with. Could it mot bo arranged that it should be postponed., so that in the event of further proceedings sometime later, the same trouble and expense would not have to be gone •over again."■ He- believed the time was coming when the people would desire fow Uocal.bodies to do the work. Mr Mast-field agreed. He pointed out •that in Kuglond:tl.e.;work of keeping the roads was done by the counties now, and that an Act to the.same ei-.ct, was about >to he brought into force in Scotland. Mr Boleyn said th.t there was such a network of railways in -Great Britain tint roads were now not neany so .much .used as foimerly. Mr Pettigrew said that roads were uretpdred ns feeders to the railways. The Chairman said, in answer to Mr •Gebbie, that he understood Mr Bradley's resolution to finish the matter altogether. He did not think any other course could be taken. | |The. resolution was then put and ■carried.