County Council Acts On Edgecumbe Petition For Township Improvements

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 25, 27 February 1948, Page 5

County Council Acts On Edgecumbe Petition For Township Improvements

The rate, suggested by the petitioners, is to be 1/6 in the £ on the unimproved value of the rateable property within the area, and will be an annually recurring rate during the period required in which to repay in full all monies advanced applied or expended by the Council fn connection with the township improvement works. An immediate advance of ..from £2OO to £250 for an improved water .supply scheme with 2\ inch mains and proper hydrants was sought and granted. Other works proposed are kerbing and channelling the main street through the township, financed on a 10/- to £1 subsidy up to a maximum of £7O a year. It is estimated that in five years’ time kerbs and channels in the township will be all nicely set up. Once the Council had resolved by . special order to give effect to the petitioners’ requests, the chairman, Mr J. L. Burnett, said he thought the Edgecumbe people were to be congratulated on their enterprise in taking the steps they had done. He would recommend similar action to any other township within the 1 County where special amenities were desired.

In accordance with a request incorporated in a petition from 30 of the 40 ratepayers in the Edgecumbe township area, the Whakatane County Council on Tuesday decided to levy a special rate for township improvements and to advance certain monies for such works.

Joint Water Reticulation Scheme for Borough And Rangitaiki Plains Area?

Can the Whakatane Borough and the County solve their water reticulation problems with a joint scheme to serve the Borough, Edgecumbe township and the dairy lands on the Rangitaiki Plains? i “Something pretty big,” was the way the County Council chairman, Mr Burnett, described the suggestion when it was made by Cr L. W. Luxton at Tuesday’s meeting of the Council. _ ‘.‘Maybe I am going in for something pretty big,” rejoined Cr Luxton, “but any settler on the plains knows the area is in a bad way for stock water and water for' domestic purposes.” „ He said he knew the cost was likely to be prohibitive at the present time, but the scheme he uggested for the future would return .a dividend in increased production. The chairman here pointed out that the plan the Borough had under consideration was calculated to cost around £30,000, and the cost of a scheme such as Cr Luxton had mentioned would be staggering. Cr Luxton said 'the Hauraki plains had been successfully reticulated, and Crs R. C. Leslie, D. T. Allen and J. Wilson backed him. up, saying it was a pity something of the sort had not been done years ago. . . . y,\

At that point the discussion, which arose out of consideration of improvements at Edgecumbe township, was allowed to lapse.

More Drastic Action In Noxious Weed Control

- In considering.the- monthly report of the inspector, Mr A. Carling, the Council decided that in future more drastic action would have to be taken concerning noxious weed control. The report showed that most of the inspector’s time had been spent on the inspection and re-in-spection of in all parts of the County and serving requisition notices to clear noxious weeds. Though extensive clearing work had been done, the Council felt that property-holders were not in all cases giving the inspector the cooperation they should, and it was agreed that, in future, “sticky” cases .should be dealt with drastically.

Replacement Of Whirinaki Bridge Again Discussed: Decision Deferred

Once again the replaceemnt of the Bailey bridge over the Whirinaki stream was discussed by the Council and deferred for further consideration at next meeting. In the meantime the chairman will be in Wellington and will seek co-operation from the Public Works Department. Mr Burnett pointed out that hire charges on the Bailey bridge at present over the river were mounting up, and it v/ould not be to the Council’s advantage to defer the provision of a bridge. Steel and cement were scarce and a reinforced concrete bridge costly.. A one-Way wooden bridge would cost about £5,000 according to the engineer’s estimate. He personally favoured a concrete structure, but the price would be about £14,000. Cr D. C. Butler spoke strongly against one-way bridges in general and at that place in particular. Asked what the subsidy position would be, Mr Burnett said' there was a _ strong case for a generous subsidy, and Cr L. W. Luxton said though the usual, subsidy was £1 for £1 on replacement of flood damage, these circumstances, were exceptional, as this bridge gave access to the rehabilitation settlement at Galatea. Against the two-way concrete bridge proposition it was pointed out that the Government’s policy for Murupara development' seemed to envisage access along the west bank of the river, which may divert the bulk of traffiic from the present road. Mr J. Wilson would not accept this view, and claimed that the Galatea route would continue to be the main one. In view of the fact that most of the traffic was bound up with Government developments, he thought a £ for £ subsidy was far too small.

Finally, it was agreed that the chairman should confer with public Works senior officers in Wellington and report to next meeting.

Ohope’s Water Worries: Council Not Hopeful *

A letter from the Ohope Progress League asked the Council to investigate the possibilities of a water supply at the Beach, but the works committee recommended that the League be advised that on present costs the provision of a water supply there would not be practicable.

Mr Burnett commented that the prospects of getting water for Ohope were very meagre indeed, and he doubted whether even a survey would fie justified just now. The engineer, Mr C. H. Brebner, agreed that the Chances of finding an adequate source of supply reasonably close to the settlement were thin. The League’s letter pointed out that the time is fast approaching when a water supply will be an absolute necessity . .from both the health and fire prevention points of view. Tenders Accepted Six contracts for formation and metalling on the Matata-Rotoma main highway are to be let to Mr N. Semmens, whose tender of £1,929 !3s 9d the Council accepted. Only other bid for the work was from Mr A. J. Allen, £2,518 Is 4d.— Mr Allen was successful, however, in securing the £2 GOO worth of meta 1 - ling contracts which are -to be let by March 31. Mr F. G. Mahy’s price of £B4B 10s for building the Awaiti bridge in hardwood was ac-f cepted.