£500 VOTED FOR ROYAL VISIT

Grey River Argus, 17 September 1948, Page 3

£500 VOTED FOR ROYAL VISIT

By Greymouth Borough

Following a lengthy discussion, the Greymouth Borough Council last night decided to allocate £5OO towards the general cost of the celebrations for the Royal visit. This amount will cover the cost of fireworks and decorations.

It was also decided to forward a tentative order to a firm in England for fireworks, and it later. The Mayor, Mr F. F. Boustridge, said he had had no official advice on the details of the Royal visit. He did not even know officially that the representatives of the Internal Affairs Department were visiting Greymouth to-day. A great deal was to be done, and there was something wrong that they had not been advised before this. If he met the officials he would ask for an explanation. A donation of £lO was made to the West Coast Centre, New Zealand Athletic Union.

The Greymouth Returned Services’ Association was granted permission to conduct a street appeal on October 15.

The Greymouth Harbour Board advised that it had decided to offer the West Coast Basketball Association a year-to-year tenancy of the Frog Pond. Blaketown, as a playing area. It was decided to support the Westland Progress League in its move to have a resident Magistrate for the West. Coast.

The. South Island Local Bodies’ Association advised that the annual meeting will be held in Westport from October 13 to 15. A complaint regarding the number of bicycles which were left standing on the footpaths during business hours in Greymouth, was received from the West Coast Federation, N.Z. Women’s Institute. The nuisance and danger to pedestrians and women wheeling prams was ever present, it was stated. The Institute asked that action be taken against offenders, and that the owners of business premises provide suitable shelters for their staffs. The matter was referred to the traffic committee. Permission was granted the Greymouth Municipal Band to hold a concert in the Regent Theatre on Sunday. October 24. ABATTOIR REMOVAL The Westland Master Butchers’ Industrial Union of Employers sought information regarding the removal of the abattoir from its present site. It was stated that local butchers feel they should be consulted before a denite site was selected, as they might be able to assist the Council. As the butchers were vitally concerned in the location of the abattoir, it was hoped the Council would consider the reauest. The Mayor said that the Council was only seeking information at present. but when a site was selected, the Association would be asked for its advice. ENGINEER’S REPORT The Borough Engineer (Mr A. J. Fairmaid) reported: Footpath formation and the first coat of sealing has been completed on both sides of Eva and Elizabeth Streets, and in continuation thereof on the north-west-ern side of Sinnott Road between Eva Street and Marsden Road and on the south-eastern side of the latter so far as tfie path extends towards Elizabeth Street. Footpath formation only has been completed on the northeastern side of Marsden Road between Josephine Street and the lower bridge and work is now in progress on the opposite side from Sinnott Road south-eastwards. Peake Lane has been cleared up and tar-sealed, first coat. At the south-western end of the formed portion of Byron Street the roadway has been metalled and the water tables cleared to obviate an overflow of storm water on to private property. Bridge repairs have comprised the replacement of two deck planks on Arney Street bridge, and broken, rotted hand-rail on the approach to the Shakespeare Street bridge. Traffic lines have been repainted throughout the borough. Drainage: A manhole in Marsden Road eastwards from Sinnott Road has been cut down to conform to the levels to which the roadway is now being regraded. Sewer connections have been put in in Marlborough Josephine, Alexander and Sturge Streets.

Waterworks: The reservoir has been kept full by an average daily pump run of 19.21 hours. In Richmond Street, the 4in main has been extended north-eastwards for 78 feet, to give required service. In the roof of the workshop a sheet of corrugated iron has been replaced by a sheet of corrugated Perspex to provide light, over the, lathe. The quintuplex mower has been delivered and is in use on the Recreation Ground, where the doors of the mower shed have had to be enlarged to accommodate the larger machine. Along the south-east boundary of the cemetery , the fence is being re-erected between the existing entrance and Chesterfield Street, where a new entrance is being made using a pair of iron gates from the Town Hall Gorse, etc., has been cleared and burned in Freyberg Terrace, Spring, Richmond and Chesterfield Streets and vicinity. The Priestman “Wolf” excavator has been delivered and assembled and the driver, one of our own staff, is acquiring the touch for the machine, by working a portion of the levelling to be done on the last .southern extension of the cemetery. Almost the whole of the demolition work covered by the Town Hall demolition contract has been completed, but much of the debris has yet to be removed.

Building activity: Ten. building perrfts, valued at £3765, were issued during August. The Inspector of Nuisances (Mr J. Guerin) reported that a number of business people were using garbage tins above the regulation size. They had been instructed to conform to the borough regulations. Instructions had also been given to a number of business people to clean up their back yards.

Works and Town

Planning Committee

The following recommendations from the Works and Town Planning Committee were adopted:— That the Greymouth and West Coast Baptist Church be advised that the Council approves of the Youth Hall, provided that, on the Buccleugh Street frontage, the building be kept back to the line of the main body of the church. That Messrs L. S. Lindley and 60 others who signed the petition regarding the proposed light industrial area off Geraldine Street, be advised that the Council will not take any further action in the meanwhile. That Messrs W. Arnott and Sons be advised that the Council will permit the building up to a maximum coverage of 80 per cent on the section upon which they proposed to erect a workshop in William Street. That the St John Ambulance Brigade be advised that the Council approves of the sue selected for the ambulance; headquarters and will do all in its power to facilitate the transfer of the required lands. Thai? the Cobden Ratepayers Association be advised that the general matters referred to in the letter, dated August 20, have been referred

to the borough engineer for action, and that the Council has already arranged for the erection of street lights on Fitzgerald Street, as soon as a supply of fitting is to hand. That Messrs Sutherland, McEnaney, Preston and Cowan, residents of Cook Terrace, be advised that the matter of a turning place at the upper end of the terrace has been referred to the borough engineer for action. That Messrs Mulqueen Evans and Grant, of Marsden Road and Sinnott Road be advised that the Council will take no acnein the matter of the piping of Chesterman Creek through their properties. That the letter from the Blaketown Ratepayers’ Association, dated September 1, be referred to the borough engineer for action. Regarding street lights in the block between Robinson and Ryan streets, referred to in the letter, dated July 28, it is recommended that three additional lights be erected in Blake Street between Robinson and Reid Streets, when fittings are available. That the Council agree with the Greymouth Harbour Board that building permit fees be chargeable on the Board’s rateable property, hut not on property exempt from rates That the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Union be advised that matter of tar sealing, Ashton Lane, has been referred tc the borough engineer for action as soon as it may be Possible to undertake the work. That the borough engineer be empowered to take any necessary legal, action to -birinate the 18 pan closets now remain ng in the area of the borougk exclusive of Blaketown, Preston Road and Cobden. That no work be done unon the reconstruction of Tamm Street until after the Royal visit. That in Buccleugh Street, the channels be ennoreted and the roadways be tar seS befoJe the Royal visit. That the Fordson tractor be offered for sale by tender.