AKAROA AND WAINUI ROAD BOARD.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 641, 5 September 1882, Page 2

AKAROA AND WAINUI ROAD BOARD.

The usual monthly meeting of this Board was hold on Saturday. Present —Messrs E. S. Ch'ippell G. Checkley, and A. Wright. MINUTES. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. INTERVIEWS. Bell's Road—Messrs Lyon and Bell were in attendance on the Board. The following letter was read from Messrs Lyon Bros.:— '• German Bay, 24th August, 1882. " Gentlemen, —We agree to the direction of Bell's road being altered to that marked out by Mr Wilkiiu, on the following con ditioii3, viz,:—That the Board, in order that the road can be carried in a straight line along our garden fence to the Valley road, should remove the two gates and part of fence which enclose the small paddock next to the Valley road, and pay for the removal and re-erecting of same. That the land over which the road now runs shall bo transferred to us, in lieu of the land which, we agree to transfer to the Board for the , altenuion of road. The expenses of both transfers to bo paid for by the Board.— Yours, etc.,

"Lyom Bros."

Mr Checkley said lie agreed that the alteration would b« better for all parties.

Mr Wright also concurred. The Chairman said he thought the Messrs Lyon were acting very generously to the Board.

Mr Checkley proposed,and Mr A. Wright seconded—" that Messrs Lyon Bros, offer be accepted," (Agreed to.)

Gorm-iM Biy Vsillev Road—The following Idler from Mr Lyo'i on thin subject wan re- , ) , ! :—

4 T'ikfiin.itua, German Bay, Aug. 4.

'■ Sir, —I suopo* : e you ur« well iiwmv that, there is considerable traffic on the Le Bon's Bay road. I assure you the portion of it from the • Akaroa main ioad up to Mra Roberts' residence is becoming perfectly impassable to foot passengersanddangerous for conveyances. May I request you to please to give orders to have this set to rights as early as possible, by which you will much o lige—Yours, etc., " Fred. Lyon." Mr Lyon said the work was much re quired. The Chairman said that the work was a really necessary one, and that Mr Barwick had better have the water let off and a culvert put in ; the work to be done by day labor. Bell's Rond—Messrs Bell and Brown waited on the Board respecting the state of this road, urgir.g that something should be done to it. After a long discussion, the deputation were informed that.the Board could do nothing till more funds wero at their disposal.

Beach Road—Mr L. Ptrham waited on the Board, asking for a culvert to be plated across the road to drain his property. He was informed that the Board would attend to the matter as soon as they had funds.

Duvanchelle's Bay Pound—Mr Joseph Libeau waited on the Bourd with accounts for the past quarter. He paid in the fees, amounting to £1 12?, and rendered an account for salary of £ck-

The members seemed that the pound should be self supporting, nnd Mr Libeau was asked to withdraw whilst the matter was talked over. It was eventually agreed that Mr Libeau should be offered the pound on condi.ion of receiving the pound fees. Mr Libeau agreed to the proposal of the Board ; th* new arrangement to commence from August 10th. Mr Lineau further asked regarding the troughs for the pound, and also for the right to erect a few panels of fencing, to allow the c.ittle to bo yarded more easily. Mr Barwick said that the timber for the troughs was in the place, but he could not get a carpenter to make them. The panels of fencing could be erected without doing harm.

Permission was granted to erect the fencing.

The Clerk said he thought the view arrangement should commence from September 10th.

Mr Libeau objected to this, and the Board eventually agreed to allow , the term to commence on August 10th : the arrangement to last for six months. , CORRESPONDENCE. Letters were read— From Mr F. W. Williams, saying ho would pay rates on estate of late J. Breitmeyer when the estate was wound up : and also asking for copy of general conditions used by the Board for contracts.

The Gierk said that he had sent Mr Williams the information he asked for ; and also informed him that the rates must ho paid at once.

From Mr A. C. as follows: —

" T*:Kau, Barry's Buy, August 18. 1832

*•- iSi r,—l beg lo in form you tli tt the in tin road from B irry's ii-iy on t'.iin side of tlie h srbor is becoming very had fniiu numerous small land slips, blocking npthu side channels nnd forcing the water on to the road. Especially between French Farm and Barry's Buy the road is in a vary unsafe condition. In one place it is broken in half, leaving scarcely room for a dray to piss. I imagine it wM not be necessary for your Board to pass the ciiHtomnry resolution—that the Clerk shall visit the spot nnd report at the next meeting—because his attention was drawn to tlie (kngeroim place aV=oiit a fortnight asro, but nothing has been dono as yet. The late contractor (Mr Bullock) kept the road in very"fair order during hiscontract, and it seems a pity it should now be allowed to get into the st ito it is for want of a Httlo looking after. I must urge on your Board the necessity of at once having the dangerous place put into a safe condi tion, and the side channels kept clear so as to avoid the road breaking away in other places. I am convinced it will be true economy to keep the road in a safe condition raiher than have to pay heavy damages in case an accident happened.—

Youth, etc.,

"A. C. Knight."

It was resolved to acknowledge Mr Knight's letter with thanks, as the Clerk reported the work hid heen done. From Mr H. 11. Wood, as follows:— 11 ChrUtchiirch, August 12,1882..

" Sir, —I ~£n(£oße cheque for £6 4s, amount of mtes and expenses for whi<-h a suuimone his been sent to Mr Wood. We beg to protest strongly against thn way in which our portion of the district lias heen tre.'ited by the Bo«»rd. We have asked time after time that we should be allowed to spend our rates in improving the roads we have already made. As we have pointed out to you before, we have spent scores of pounds in making roads which are used by the whole district, and not one penny have wo !md from thu Board towards the cost. We understand there is t>ome agitation to do away with the Akaroaand Wainui Road Board, and we do not wonder at it. We shall use what little interest we hive in the same direction, un!es3 the Board will see its way to do justice to us.—Yours, etc., " B. H. Wood "

From Mr Gr. Armstrong, enclosing County Council letter saying that Bil guerie road was not a County road, anl tlio ll.iad liotrd wore the persons to whom he must look for repairs.

The Clerk was instructed to communicate with Mr Armstrong on the matter, From Messrs Harper, re Bates' road, Wainui, aa follows : —

" Hereford sireet, Christchurch, 23rd August, 1882

"Sir, —We acknowledge the receipt of your ietier of the 14th inst, and wo have the honor to inform you that we have seen the Chief Surveyor and have inspected thf public maps as well as the Crown grants of section 8459. The portion tinted yellow on the tracing lies to the north of section 8459, any road therefore taken through that portion to section 10330 would not be through section 8459. Tne road would be made through hind reserved for that purpose independently of any section. We are of opinion therefore that the Board can make the road through the portion tinted yellow. We return letter and tracing.—Yours, etc..

" iIARPEti & GO." From Mr Brocherie, as follows :—

" Akaroa, September 2, 1882. " Sir,-—I beg to call your attention to

big tiee right across the road, stopping all the traliic from Long Buy junction road lending to my firm—Yours, etc., '' L. BltOClIKUIE." The Chairman said ho had ordered the _ tree to be cleared out. From Mr Le Vaillant, jun., as follows :— "German Bay, September 3.1882. Sir, —Ac I have no means of getting to my 1 nd, situate between Robinson's and German Bay, without going through private proper!)', and as 1 only want a thoroughfare, I hope the Board wil' open a road at once, and oblige—Yours, etc., " Louis Lβ Vaillant, Jun." The Chairman said the matter could not be considered at present. From Messrs Sandys & Co., J. Duly, and others, as follows :— "* " Akaroa, August, 1882. '• Gentlemen, —We, the undersigned, beg respectively to direct your attention to the urgent necessity of having something * done in the matter* of the Waikerakikari road. A letter will be handed to your Board from Mr John Smith, in which that gentleman offers to pay £34, or there abouts, which huiu will represent the rates at Present due by him, and next year's rnitesl 'in advance, on rendition that the Board advance a similar sum, and that the whole bo spent in forming a horse track from Summit road to saw .mill at beach. We, who sign this communication, also . agree to pay our rates in advance on the eamo conditions if the work be put in hand at once. We would suggest that the tir.st grade made by Messrs Fenim and Wilkins be adopted as far as the low saddle near Mount Libeau—the road from that point to the Summit road having been formed. The adoption of this portion of the old grade would secure a much shorter road line, and notinvo.ve any very difficult formation ; it would also be much drier tlmn the existing grade. Mr Daly will give the land required in exchange • for the surveyed road on certain reasonable conditions, as to conveyance, etc.. so that the cost of exchange would be very trifling, and a considerable length of the Summit road be made available (in connection with the road proposed) that otherwise would be of no use to those having land in the Waikerakikari Valley. We would again remind the Board that all the upper portion of the track at present in use is on private property, and may be closed to the public at any time. We trust your Board will give immediate attention to the matter. The following letter from Mr J. Smith on the subject was also read : — " Chiistchurch, August 17. 1882. " Sir, —In reply to the Board's claim against me for rates, I hereby offer to pay the sum, and in addition next year's rates of £12, or thereabouts, in advance, if the Board will at once spend this amount, and supplement the same, in opening up a bridle track from tin; Su:ninit road to my mil at Waikerakikari. I consider it very hard to be paying such heavy rates and receiving no benefit whatever. I Inve a number of people in my employ, and at prevent hive only tho seaboard as an outlot, in consequence of whi-b my people aro often put to ureat inconvenience in procuring Huppliec. riiere i* only a very bad track coiiiuinni-atinj: with L< Urn's B-y, which in winter ti ii" cannot b- u.su I, except at great link. I have no doii'-t other owners of property in thu valley would nsnist in a similar w>y ns I propone, in having this very nwess ty -york put in band at once, and 1 trust your Bonrd will no longer neg'eut i-u h a vo y important matter. —Youra etc , " John 8 utu." The Clerk was instructed to write to the p< titioners and b«n I a copy of tho application the Hi>a"d lud forwarded to the Government for a grant for thin road.

CLKUKS BKPOUT. The following report or the Clerk W-β rend :— " Road B iard Ofli -c, :'Q\h August, 1882.

" Sir, — In compli.mco with your request I have visited the following roads, and ; have to report in follows, viz., Ist. The j Flea B.iy road via Brazenose. This road from Ayl'ner'tt hill to la*t rise nt or opposite Mr Newton* section requires little except the boulders that are cropping out of it taken out and cleared off, and a few holes filled in. It would be waste of money to do anyilnn ■«: else, as nothing that could be done would make it a good road, except its position was altered and regraded, from the nature of the country over which it passes—the line ehost-n being ovr the very summit of the peaks. The further portion of the road from Mr Newton's section to Cairn? junction, nbont 25 or 30 chains in extent, is in a most dangerous state unfit for cither horsemen or foot passengers to travel, nnd as to repairing or rather attempting to do ho, would be worse than useless, it being half bog and the remainder nothing hut a mass of large boulders ; besides, irom its poeition it tap-i the whole of the water that runs or percolates from the hill above. Its grade is also abominable, having been carried down to the lowest part of the valleys ; in fact the road has been graded down hill all the way from Newton's section with the exception of about 4 chains adjoining Glims junction, and this portion is as much as yon can possibly clember tip. I would therefore ndvise that the latter part of this road Iα regraded at a higher level, by ho doing a very fair grade can be obtained, and the work required could > c done at less cost than wou/d be incurred in attempting to repair the present line of road, besides it would be above the level of the line where the water flows frum the hill, thus making a dry road instead of a miserable one as at present. Should you think well of adopting these viuws, it will be neoeesi ry that proposed me be pegged and gruaed, in order that »n estimate of cost may be made and submitted to you. " 2nd. Purple Peak Road. —The work on this road, from Armstrong's bridge to his residence at Mount Vernon (the part complained of) is of a very trivial nat MQ ; all that is required is to have the side channels thoroughly cleared out, and the road re-crowned, which can easily be done by cutting down the outside (which at present is a ridge) and filling in the hollows in the centre of the road where required, and a /so the inner edge to be rounded down to the wuter channel, in order that the water may flow thereto from oft the centre of the road, instead of flowing down its whole length. There is also a little bush on the brow of the rise above the bridge that requires c utting down, in order tlmt the sun and w/nd may have free play thereon, at present it being entirely shnded, and consequently a bog. With reference to the gorse com plained of, it is net of a very serious nature, unless you take that into consideration which is growing on the inside of the- chain

above the road, this portion being wholly covered with a very stronggrowth, in width About a quarter of a chain, and for the whole length of road along the boundary of rural section 1710, belonging to Mr Lelievre, and not to Mr Armstrong, as reported. "3rd. Barry's Bay Valley Road.—This road at present is in a very bad state, especially up the flat from Mr Latter's store to Mr Cliatfield's junction. The whole of tliis part requires the side channels and culverts opened. Before the channfls can be opened, the gome overhanging will have to be trimmed off and burned. The offenders in this respect, I believe, are Messrs Brickland and Reed, who will have to be called upon to clear the obstruction before the work can be commenced. The main creek at Mr Broiigh's will require four or five loads of boulders lo pave the outlet from the upper side. A new culvert will be required a little below Mr Chat field's junction to drain bog where the oid road leave 1 ? the present one. Thu part of the road above Olmtfield's junction only requires the side channels cleared out, the culverts repaired and cleared, and ruts filled in. I may also etnte for your information that this road will always be an expense to the Board in winter, so Jong as the present heavy traffic continues, unless it is metalled, the forma tion being wholly on alluvial soil, which •puts tip after rain with the slightest traffic. 'There is another point that must not be loft t-ight of, viz , the parties who make a practice of dragging logs down; it must be stopped. I may also point out that the outer edge of the road opposite Mr J. Reed, jun 's, is being washed away by the creek ; it will be therefore necessary to have this looked to before another winter, or as soon as the Board have means to do it with. I Jmve also to point out the great boon the Board would he conferring upon the inhabitants in this valley by erecting two liand bridges ovet the creek, for the sake of the children attending school, and I have no doubt that those interested would subscribe towards that object.

"4th. Old French Farm Boad.—The work required on this road is also of a trivial nature, only a few chains at the beach end requiring the channel and culverts cleared, and ruts filled in to make h passable. With regard to the upper part as far as Mr Gidden's, I consider it ■useless to form a road, for doing so would bo only to bog it in wet weather. At present it is only used as a sledge road, it would therefore ho better to have all the manuka scrub cleared off, thus giving the settlers the use of the whole chain for that purpose, instead of confining them to a 12ft track, which would soon be unfit for use. As regards the French Farm side of the hill, I am informed that a great portion of the road is not on the proper line ■especially through Mr Sale's section. It would therefore be useless to expend nny iinojipy on this part of the road until the whole of it is put in its right position, as from what Mr Sale said when hero ho anight sell any day could he realise his price, and thus whatever was done on the present road would be loss.

4, 5 th. Littlo Akaloa Siiininit.—This road ■is in a bad t-tafe throughout its entire length, especially between Mr McKuy's find the Summit junction, the side l>arik 'having slipped down in ceveral places, niiii for conmileniUle distances, thus rendering tip* part <jf this ro-d dangerous to either lome or wheeled t'liffi , , fnun having risen the inside of the road in sotuo places IBm higher than tlie outside. From thin cause there is every likelihood any day of •either horsemen or vehicles sliding over the outside road, it is therefore imperative that a few pounds be expended in removing the slips and clearing out the channels and culverts.

"6th. Rhodes , Flat Road, Waimri.—l lmve also to report that the contract for ißhodes' Flnt, Wninui, is now completed, the work having been performed in a very and workmanlike manner. There is one portion will require to be looked to after it is dried up and set, that is the first bend from Kenney's contract, at at present being a complete bog. It will therefore be necesaaiy to have the aide channels cleared out and the culverts ■looked to as soon »b it is possible to do ho. The large culvort across tht; first creek will also lequire raising 18in and filling before the summer is over; by doing so and lowering the rise beyond say 18in will considerably improve the grade. I would have •had this done before the men left, but by 'doing so there was every likelihood of the Bide walls through. The addition of extra weight of such work we lmve had ample experience of. to wit Onuku •culvert.

" 7th. Harmon's Track, Little River.— 3! have fllso visited this rond and have to report that the work is about completed, «nd have also to etate that the contractors are making very fair work, and I may -stnte for your information that whenever •this road is carefully graded and formed for wheeled traffic it will be equal to the ■main road.

'■ Bth. French Farm Beach.—l have also •had this road attended to, as I found it •dangerous to either horsemen or wheeled (traffic, and impassable to foot passengers."

Hegarding Flea Bay road, ma Brazenose, <the Clerk wea instructed to have it pegged off. anil an estimate made.

Certain small repairs were ordered on the Purple Peak road.

With respect to the remainder of the roads mentioned in the report, it w>is resolved—" That the Board, from its financial position, is at present unable to do anything towards repairing the Barry's Bay Valley, Purple Peak, Little Aktiloa, Hiunmit, and Old Fr nch Farm Koads." THE HATE. It woe proposed by Mr Checkley— ll That notice be given that this Board, on Saturday, the 7th day of October next, intend to levy a rate of Is in the £ on all rateable poperty in the said road district, for the period ending the 31st day of March, 1883, nxd that the Raid rate becomes payable on the 7th of November, 1882, in one instalment, at the office of the said Board ; and also that the usual notice be given in the Akaroa Mail."

Seconded by Mr A. Wright and carried ACCOUNTS.

The following accounts were passed for jpnyment:— Foley 15a, Citron £1 Iβ 6d, 'Curraph £43 0s tid, Libeau £3. Total— £47 17s.

This made the total accounts due amount in all to £340.

The Clerk stated there wureabout £115 in the Bank. Thirty per cent of the amounts in the accounts were ordered to be paid. VACANCY. The Clerk reported that Mr Brooks had forfeited his seat on the Board through non-attendance.

The Clerk was instructed to have the

ueual steps taken for the election of a now member. THE NEW RATE ROLL. The roll was read in the presence of the Council, sealed, and declared ready for the inspection of the ratepayers. The meeting then adjourned till Saturday, October 7. at the usual hour.