STREET WORKS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 49, 26 August 1933, Page 14

STREET WORKS

FIXING OF CONDITIONS

SEALING JOBS

THE COUNCIL DISCUSSION

There is probably a good deal of misunderstanding regarding the discussion which took place at Thursday's meeting of the City Council as to rates and conditions of pay on the. Wadestown and Upland Road jobs. The question was not whether these jobs should be carried out as relief works, for the council had already decided to pay the standard daily rate, but whether standard conditions as well as standard rates should obtain. The recommendation of the works committee, on a majority vote of that committee, was that the relief-work rates (10s per day) should be made up by the council to the full award rate (13s lOd), but that the request that the men engaged should work on days additional to those fixed by reliefwork conditions should not be granted. The council, by a substantial majority, sent that recommendation back to the committee, with a recommendation that not only should award rates be paid, but that the men engaged should work the> full- week. At no time, then, was the issue whether the two loading works should be carried out as relief works (at 10s per day). The point was whether the money available should be limited to a smaller number of full-week workers or should be spread over a large number of part-week worker's (at 13s lOd per day). The majority opinion, as stated above, was that the work was standard work, in respect of which both standard rates and the full-week standard conditions should apply. EFFECT OF STANDARD CONDITIONS. It was suggested during the debate that standard rates and conditions would so complicate the financial side of the work that on the whole of the programme to be carried out with the diverted loan balances there would be a deficit of something like £4000, but happily, it appears, the position will not be nearly so serious as this, and the effect will be that the council will have to find about £1600 additional for the Wadestown and Upland Eoad jobs, as a result of not receiving the full amount of assistance which would have been given by the Unemployment Board had relief conditions applied. In all probability, a, "Post" reporter gathered, this will necessitate eliminating certain streets which were listed for surface-sealing with money from the- loan balances. The balances are those from paving and surface-sealing loans, of 1925 (£200,000 plus 10 per cent., total £220,000)' and 1927 (£201,000). In various ways substantial savings were made on the estimated costs of the work, and there is still available about £33,000, of which £8000 can be used for' pi-eparatory work on Wadestown and Upland Roads, where a considerable amount of construction, widening, grade-improvement, and so on must be dono before the surface can bo attended to. STREETS FOR TREATMENT. The remainder of the loan money will be required for the surface-sealing proper of a largo number of city streets. This work, presumably, will be carried out by the council's regular streetworks staff as regular city work, and in no sense as relief work. The list of streets proposed for sealing includes:— Through streets, Ncwtown: Druinmond, Howard, Normanby, Donald McLean, Harper, Ehodes, and Lawrence Streets, Newtown Avenue. Through streets, Berhainporo: Herald and Leraud (portion) Streets. Dead ends: Basin Reserve to John Street; Watson Street. Dead ends, Newtown: Gordon, Florence and Daniell Streets and Gordon Place. Dead ends, Berhampore: Milton, Dawson, and Blythe Streets; Herald Terrace. Dead ends, To Aro flat and Mount Victoria: Lloyd, Nelson, Pirie, Vivian, Home, Patterson, Queen, Elizabeth, Port, Stafford, Marjoribauks (top), Leeds, Walter, Binhain, Hanson; Hankey, Haining, Hall, Carrington, Monciieff, Peter, Bute, Garrett, Whittaker, Wigan, Holland, Kensington, Nairn, and Barker Streets, Ellice, Brougham, Albany, Tutchen, Knigge, and Footscray Avenues, Dunlop, Scarborough, Earls, and Crosby Terraces, Stepney, Cumberland, Win'sor, and Jacob's Places. Terrace and vicinity: Bolton and Mowbray Streets, Clifton and Aurora Terraces, Salamanca and San Sebastian Roads, Thorndon end: George and May Streets, Upton and Cotteville Terraces, Hawkestone and Portland Crescents. Brooklyn :Todman, Apuka, and Helen Streets, Connaught Terrace, Washington Avenue (portion), Mills Road, and McKinley Crescent. Seatoun: Inglis, Dundas, and Kupe Streets, Marine Parade and Breaker Bay. Miramar: Para, Chelsea, and Kmgsford Smith Streets, Moa Point Road (portion), Wcxford Road (portion), Tauhinau Road (portion). Kilbirnie: Endeavour Street, Palm Avenue, Lyall Parade. Hataitai: Rata and Maida Vale Roads, Palliscr Eoad (portion). Karori: Birdwood, Vcrviers, Campbell, and Lewcr Streets, Hadficld, Farlie, and Seaforth Terraces, Earoa and Moan.a Roads, the Rigi, Marsdcn Avenue. Wadestown: Barnard and Pitt Streets. Ngaio and Khandallah: Awarua, Perth, Westminster Streets, Station, Rothsay, Johnsonville, and Nicholson Roads. ■