Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 153, 29 April 1940, Page 4

Dear Sir,

Letters to the Editor must be , clearly written on one side of the < paper only. Where a nom-de-plume is used the name of thewriter must be enclosed for reference purposes only. PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS Sir—l would like a little of your space to present an appeal to those pedestrians who loiter on the crossings in the Strand. As a motorist with occasion to use this thoroughfare frequently I often have to stop at the crossings. It is a regulation that motorists must pull up when pedestrians are crossing the road between the white lines and I have no objection to obeying this traffic law but I must protest when people use the safety marks to stand and v talk. When the Strand is busy, especially on Friday nights, the Traffic Inspector is usuallyjm duty, and last night I noticctj»j.at he had to speak to several grWiips.who were standing oil the road, inside the. crossing lines. Still pedestrians seem to take no notice and one o;r two prosecutions might assist in keeping the crossings for their legitimate purpose and so do away with the annoyance caused to motorists who have to stop for private debating parties. Yours etc., N.L.H. Whakatane, April 27th. RAGWORT PROBLEM Sir, —I was interested in the report of the farmer's complaint that® the County Council had prosecuted him for failing to clear his land of ragwort when he had offered to pay for the work if it was done by Council labour. Of course, the Council did not do the work and prosecuted the farmer but apparently it had advised him that the work would be done after the prosecution and he would have to pay for it thenf*. The point raised by the farmer concerned, that if the Council couM rlo the Avork after the prosecution it could do it before and thus do away with the necessity of legal proceedings, was, to my mind, a very logical; one. It was stated by the noxious weeds inspector that the Council did not have any labour available, yet on the Council's own statement it would have to find the men to do the work after proceedings had beew taken. Surely the Council could find sufficient labour to assist mers in clearing operations. I was pleased to see that two y>f the councillors supported this particular farmer's case. They are evidently practical farmers themselves and know the difficulties involved when so much work has to be done and there is so little time and labour to do it. » From my own experience I kno-T? I how hard it is to work in the job of clearing ragwort. This year I was fortunate enough to be able to secure competent labour for the work and the job was done well, but I know that if I could not have gprti the men, some of my land would still be 'infested.' I think it is up to the Council tc get hold of some men when the time comes and I know that they will be in demand and that farmers in the County will gladly pay for the service. Yours etc., "RAGWORT."